Jaune Arc The Vanguard Of Thunder
by MenmaOfRemnant
Summary: Jaune Arc wasn't exactly the bravest guy out there, in fact he was pretty cowardly. He only had 3 friends, and all three of them couldn't really spend time with him outside of school because they were busy. One day, he stumbled upon a card shop and his life changed. And it changed with the help of a single deck. "Naru...kami?" Psyqualia! Jaune
1. Chapter 1: Vanguard?

**Summary: Jaune Arc wasn't exactly the bravest guy out there, in fact he was pretty cowardly. He only had 3 friends, and all three of them couldn't really spend time with him outside of school because they were busy. One day, he stumbled upon a card shop and his life changed. And it changed with the help of a single deck. "Naru...kami?" Psyqualia! Jaune**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Cardfight Vanguard. Rated M for foul language and possible lemons**

 **There is no Kai, no Aichi, none of that. The entire fanfic is consisted with RWBY characters, OCs, and important figures from the CFV anime, like Takuto and stuff, no more and no less. Clear? Good.**

 **Pairing: It will be a small harem for Jaune, between his three friends: Ruby, Yang and Blake. NO! There will be no Pyrrha pairing, she will be his friend EVENTUALLY, but he will NEVER harbour romantic feelings for her. Yes, I AM open to suggestions on additions to the harem, and may make a poll if I like some of the ideas, but god damn it there will be no Arkos! Don't get me wrong, I love the pairing, but I'm a fan of pairings that do not have a good chance to become canon, with the exception being Jaune/Ruby since I think it's cute.**

 **This fanfic has been put in both the regular RWBY and Crossover RWBY because otherwise NOBODY will find it. Like, not even kidding, a brand new one takes forever to find. So this is being put in two different ones to make it more findable.**

 **Also, not so much in the beginning, but later in the series it will feature fan-made cards that will be treated as actual cards for the sake of the story. So if anybody has any cards they have created, PM me the details of the card, including a link to a picture of what it looks like if possible.**

 **One last thing. It might be a little confusing, but it is set in the CFV world, so there is no Beacon or anything like that, or robots, or criminal underworld, etc. There ARE underground fighters, so that's where Cinder and the others will be.**

 **Without further ado, let's go! Stand Up! Vanguard!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Vanguard?**

Jaune Arc honestly didn't know what he was doing any longer.

He was 15 years old, and a student at Hitsue Junior High School. He lived with his mother, father, and his seven sisters. He got decent grades, and he wasn't tremendously out of shape. In fact he was actually rather good looking, with his shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes, it wasn't hard to like his looks. But despite this, he was often picked on at school by bullies. The reason for this? Because of his personality.

He was quite cowardly.

It was because of his cowardly personality that a lot of students laughed at or picked on him. Even some of the teachers picked on him, he got almost no piece. But he did have three friends, who he wouldn't trade for anything.

First, there was Ruby Rose. She was 13, but she was quite clever so she had been able to skip 2 grades and was in Jaune's class. She had short black hair with a red tint, and silver eyes. She wore the standard academy uniform whenever he saw her; a gray skirt, a shirt of her choice (she usually opted for a red one with black text on it that said 'Red Like Roses' and had a silver rose on it) and a gray jacket. She was pretty short, but that was to be expected given her age, so you were unable to fault her for that. She was a very sweet girl, and always very kind to Jaune since the day they met. But whenever someone pissed her off, she was incredibly scary.

After her, there was Yang Xiao Long, who was actually Ruby's older sister. Well, half sister, which was why they didn't look very alike. She was 15, and she was okay with her grades, but she did her best when it came to physical exercise. She was very beautiful and ranked within the top 10 girls at school because of that. She had rather large breasts for her age, and a curvy figure. She had long blonde hair she was very protective of, and lilac eyes, though sometimes when she got mad people saw them as red. As expected, she also wore the school uniform, but instead of a red shirt like Ruby's, she had a yellow shirt with a orange sort of fire symbol.

And last, but certainly not least, was Blake Belladonna. 15, obviously, and she was a beauty just like Yang. While she was lacking in the breast department, she made up for it with her curves and her ass. She had long black hair, and often had a black bow in her hair. When asked about it, she would say it was sentimental. She had golden eyes that could almost stare into the soul. Out of the four of them, she was the one with the best grades, and she was almost always reading a book, even when she was with the three of them.

They were, without a doubt, his best friends. But that didn't mean he felt there weren't...issues with their friendship.

Whenever he asked them if they wanted to go somewhere after school, the girls would hesitate, before apologizing and turning him down, promising to make it up to him somehow. But they never did, and that really hurt Jaune. It made him think they were only being his friends because he amused them...

The blonde sighed as those thoughts ran through his head before he heard the bell ring and they were dismissed again for the end of the day. He grabbed his bag and stood before he walked to the girls. "Hey," he said with a smile, though it was slightly forced.

Ruby gave him a bright smile. "Hey Jaune!" she said a little loudly. "Boring day huh?"

He nodded. "Tell me about it Rubes..." he groaned. "Still reeling from that pop quiz earlier..."

"I'm sure you did fine lady killer!" Yang told him as she pat him on the back, laughing.

"Your only saying that because you probably failed it Yang," Blake quipped as she flipped to the next page of her book, a small grin on her lips.

Yang grumbled, "Hey shut up! Sorry we can't all get good grades like you miss 'always gets at least a B on every kind of quiz'!"

Jaune chuckled at that before he grew nervous. "Hey um...I was wondering if we could all head to that new restaurant that opened last week together? You know, friends day out?"

They all gave him bright smiles, and for once Jaune though they'd actually agree, but they suddenly hesitated and gave him apologetic looks. "We're REALLY sorry Jaune," Ruby told him. "But we've got...stuff to do, so we can't make it."

"Oh..." Jaune mumbled softly.

"We really are sorry Jaune," Blake said to him as well. "We'll make it up to you, promise."

He nodded numbly. "Yeah...I uh...I gotta head out now...see ya..."

"Jaune-" Yang began, but Jaune was already out the door.

* * *

He walked down the street, kicking a can angrily as he did so. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" he growled to himself. "Every single time I try to head somewhere with them, they just turn me down! Are they even actually my friends?!" he sighed as he felt his anger drain and he became miserable. "Maybe I should just stop...I can't exactly blame them...nobody wants to spend time with me..."

He glanced to his left and he suddenly stopped. Looking into the shop, he saw someone was having difficulty carrying a lot of boxes, and looked like they were about to fall over. Panicking, Jaune ran in and dropped his bag. "Hey um...do you need any help?"

"Please," a calm male voice said. He quickly took two boxes from the four he was carrying and held them in his arms. "Please put them down behind the counter." Jaune complied, putting them down behind the counter, as the man put them down just beside his. "Thank you for the help," he said kindly.

"No problem," Jaune said as he looked over, now getting a good look of him. He had short and unkempt silver hair, along with a pair of brown eyes. He was rather pale, but by no means an ill looking pale. On his nose was a pair of small round glasses, that seemed to be mostly for appearance. He was dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans, along with wearing a blue apron. "Sorry about just barging in, but you looked like you were about to fall over."

"It is quite alright," he said kindly. "Those were heavy, but I wanted them all moved at once to save time. If you had not come, I may have been injured."

Jaune nodded, "So uh...what kind of store do you run?" he said a little awkwardly. "I wasn't exactly paying attention since I ran in to help you."

The man chuckled lightly. "I run a card shop. This store is called Card Capital. I'm closed right now, but I'll be opening in a few minutes. Could you perhaps help me out a little bit in unpacking these boxes? I have no qualms about paying you."

"You don't need to do that," Jaune told him quickly. "I'm fine with helping out...though you will need to direct me on where to unpack stuff...um sorry, I don't know your name."

"Ah, right," the man chuckled again, though this time it was slightly sheepish. "Forgive me, I do tend to forget to do that at times. My name is Ozpin. May I ask your name?"

"Jaune Arc," the blonde responded as he picked up one of the boxes and began to unpack, with Ozpin giving him directions on where to unpack. With the two of them doing it, they quickly unpacked within only five minutes. As they unpacked, Jaune saw one name constantly on everything. 'Cardfight Vanguard'.

When they finished, Ozpin and Jaune both sat on chairs. "Thank you for the help," Ozpin said kindly.

Jaune just flashed a smile. "It was nothing. Always happy to help out when I can."

The man nodded and he studied Jaune. "You say you don't want to be paid, but I would still like to thank you...so I'd like to give you a trial deck of your choice, if you please?"

The blonde blinked. "Wha- but are you sure? I mean...I'm sure I could pay for it, I don't want you to be losing any mone-"

Ozpin put his hand up. "As I said, think of it as a thank you. Had you not helped I would have been unpacking another 15 minutes. You saved me a great amount of time. So please, by all means pick a trial deck and take it. It will be all yours."

"O-oh," Jaune said in surprise. "W-well um...thank you..." he stood up and walked behind the counter as he looked at all of the trial decks, not really understanding the game well enough to pick one.

But then his eyes fell on one that almost seemed to... _call out_ to him. Reaching out, he slowly grabbed it and took it off the wall. "Naru...kami?" he mumbled softly as he looked at it, and he just knew. This was the deck for him. He turned to Ozpin and held it up, "If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like this deck."

Ozpin glanced over, and raised an eyebrow at the deck. _Resonance of Thunder Dragon_. "Without even looking?"

Jaune nodded hesitantly. "Y-yeah, I don't know what it is about this deck but its almost as if it...called out to me, ya know?"

The silver haired man nodded, almost in understanding. "Yes, I believe I do. But before you take it, would you like to try _using_ that deck?"

"Huh?" Jaune blinked. "But...who would I play against?"

Ozpin smiled, "Why me, of course. I may not look it, but I have played vanguard before. And while I do have my own deck, I shall use another of the trial decks to be fair since you are a beginner." Standing up, Ozpin grabbed another of the trial decks off the wall, _Slash of Silver Wolf_ , and handed Jaune the rule book. "Here. Read through it to understand the game. If you have a little trouble sometimes while we play, do not hesitate to ask."

With a nod, Jaune sat down and began to read the rulebook. While he did, Ozpin walked to the doors and turned the sign, showing the store was now open, and smiled as people began to enter.

* * *

A few minutes later, Jaune was finally done reading and he looked at Ozpin, who was just finishing selling a booster pack to a young boy. "I think I've got the rules down."

Ozpin nodded and stood up and put a small sign on the desk that said 'busy, will be back to serve soon', before he walked over to Jaune and set his starting card face down on the vanguard circle, before he began to shuffle his deck.

Jaune did the same, and both put their decks down before they both drew five cards. Jaune looked over his hand before he picked two cards and put them back in his deck, shuffling again. Ozpin himself only returned a single card, shuffling before they both drew the amount of cards they put back. Jaune was about to begin, but Ozpin spoke. "Picture it."

The blonde blinked. "Huh?"

Ozpin gave a mysterious smile. "In your mind, picture it. The two of us have appeared as spirits on the planet similar to earth known as Cray."

Jaune blinked but suddenly his eyes widened as he found himself standing opposite a ghostly version of Ozpin in a mountain like area with a clear blue sky. Ozpin smiled at him. "Stand up! Vanguard!" Ozpin turned over the card and, before Jaune's eyes, form changed on Cray. Standing there was now a young boy wearing hunter like clothing and a silver wolf hat of some kind. " **Grassland Breeze, Sagramore**."

 **Grassland Breeze, Sagramore**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 10000**

"S-Stand up! Vanguard!" Jaune said as he turned over his card, his form changing on Cray to a red skinned lizard man wearing black armour and wielding a black pole, with a scythe of lightning at the top of it. " **Lizard Soldier, Sishin**!"

 **Lizard Soldier, Sishin**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 10000**

"I suggest I go first to help you understand how a standard turn works. Is that alright?" Ozpin asked him. Jaune simply nodded. "Good. Then I draw," he drew a card and added it to his hand. "I ride **Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth** ," he placed the card on the vanguard circle, and his form changed on cray to a young man with a sword wearing golden armour. "Then I shall call **Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore** to rear-guard," he placed the card behind his vanguard, and it appeared on Cray as well. It was the same boy from before, but older and using a bow, and wearing golden clothing. "That shall be my turn."

 **Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

Jaune nodded and drew. "I draw...and then I ride **Djin** **n of the Lightning Spark**!" he placed the card on his vanguard circle, a blue skinned boy wearing a purple turban and with purple cloth covering his face. "And uh...then I call **Red River Dragoon**!" he placed it to the right of his vanguard as a red armoured teen appeared. "Then I attack your vanguard with **Red River Dragoon**!" he turned the card on its side, initiating the attack.

 **Djinn of the Lightning Spark**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Red River Dragoon**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

Ozpin hummed for a moment before glancing at his hand, "I shall guard with **Weapons Dealer, Gwydion**." He placed the Draw Trigger in the guardian circle, and as Jaune's unit attacked, the blue armoured man appeared between Ozpin's Vanguard and Jaune's unit. Jaune's unit jumped back and Ozpin's guardian vanished as he put it into the drop zone.

 **Weapons Dealer, Gwydion**

 **Grade: 0 (Draw Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **8000+5000=13000**

"Um...then I attack with **Djinn of the Lightning Spark** ," Jaune said, turning the card on its side. "And with his skill, while he's on the Vanguard circle and he attacks my opponent's vanguard, he gets an additional 4000 power." The blue skinned boy began to summon lightning.

 **6000+4000=10000**

"I will not guard that attack," Ozpin told him, and **Djinn** fired lightning towards Ozpin's vanguard.

Jaune nodded. "Then um...I check the drive trigger," he turned over the top card to reveal a **Thunderstorm Dragoon**. The lightning hit **Gareth** , and Ozpin looked to his deck.

 **Thunderstorm Dragoon**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"I check for a damage trigger," he said as he turned over the top card, but only succeeded in revealing another **Gareth**. He placed it into his damage zone.

Jaune looked over the field before nodding and looking to Ozpin. "That will be the end of my turn," he told him.

 **Ozpin:**

 **None, Gareth, None**

 **None, Sagramore, None**

 **Hand: 3**

 **Damage: 1**

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Djinn, Red River**

 **None, None, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 0**

"Then it is my turn," Ozpin said. "I draw...then I shall ride **Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains**." He placed it on his vanguard circle, and the silver haired warrior with head armour and shield appeared, a golden sword gleaming in his hand. "Then I shall call **Charging Chariot Knight** to the rear-guard," he placed it beside his vanguard as a silver armoured warrior on a chariot appeared on the battle field, standing ready.

 **Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Charging Chariot Knight**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Now, my **Chariot Knight** attacks," Ozpin turned the card on its side. "And with its skill, since I hold less cards in my hand than you do, his power goes up by 3000."

 **8000+3000=11000**

"I uh...won't guard," Jaune said, wincing a little as the knight ran his blue warrior through with his spear, and he turned over the top card of the deck, his eyes lighting up. "A draw trigger! I give 5000 power to Djinn, and then I draw one card!" he put the card into his damage zone before he drew a card from his deck.

Ozpin turned his two cards on their side, "With a boost from **Sagramore** , **Beaumains** shall attack **Djinn**." **Beaumains** charged towards Djinn with a loud battle cry.

"I won't guard," Jaune said, his voice sounding a bit more confident. Ozpin was forced to suppress a smile, and he turned over the top card of his deck.

"A draw trigger," Ozpin announced. "The power shall go to **Beaumains** and I draw a card." The golden warrior slashed Djinn, and Jaune winced again.

"Damage trigger check," he said as he turned over the card, revealing a **Red River Dragoon**.

Ozpin smiled at him. "That shall end my turn," he told the blonde.

 **Ozpin:**

 **Chariot Knight, Beaumains, None**

 **None, Sagramore, None**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Damage: 1**

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Djinn, Red River**

 **None, None, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 2**

A nod was all he received in reply as he stood his units and drew a card. "I stand and draw," he glanced over his hand before he picked his card. "I ride **Thunderstorm Dragoon**!" he placed the card on top of **Djinn** , his Vanguard now being a red armoured warrior standing atop a dragon. "Then I move **Red River** back and call **Shieldblade Dragoon** ," **Red River** jumped back as a shirtless warrior with a strange red sword appeared where he once stood.

 **Shieldblade Dragoon**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

Ozpin smiled. _He may not even realize, but he is quickly assembling a powerful formation. If he is able to draw the deck's ace card, then I believe I will be losing on his next turn._

"With a boost from **Red River** , **Shieldblade** will attack **Beaumains**!" Jaune declared as he turned the two cards on their sides, and Ozpin noticed his voice was far more confident than it was when he first entered the store.

 **8000+8000=16000**

"I will not guard that attack," Ozpin told him. **Shieldblade** slammed into **Beaumains** and the warrior stumbled back from the impact. "Damage Trigger check," Ozpin turned over the top card, and frowned just slightly at the lack of a trigger, only revealing his other **Charging Chariot Knight**. He placed the card into his damage zone.

"Then **Thunderstorm Dragoon** will attack your vanguard!" Jaune said as he turned the card on its side. The warrior threw his lance.

"Once more," Ozpin said. "I do not guard."

Jaune smiled and turned over the top card of his deck, revealing a Grade 3 unit, **Plasmabite Dragon**. Ozpin did not even flinch as his vanguard was knocked back again on Cray, turning over another card, and once more frowning, though this time at the appearance of the best card of the deck, **Great Silver Wolf, Garmore**. He reluctantly put the card in the damage zone.

 **Plasmabite Dragon**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Great Silver Wolf, Garmore**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"And I'll end my turn there," Jaune told Ozpin.

 **Ozpin:**

 **Chariot Knight, Beaumains, None**

 **None, Sagramore, None**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Thunderstorm, Shieldblade**

 **None, None, Red River**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 2**

"In that case it is my turn," Ozpin stood his units and drew a card. "I ride **Battlefield Storm, Sagramore**." He placed the unit onto the vanguard circle, and a silver armoured warrior wielding twin blades appeared, a grin on his face. "Then I shall call **Sleygal Double Edge** , **Gareth** , and **Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan**." He placed the three cards onto the field, **Gareth** appearing behind **Chariot Knight** and **Sleygal** and **Haugan** appearing on the formerly empty right side.

 **Battlefield Storm, Sagramore**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Sleygal Double Edge**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Evil Slaying Swordsman, Haugan**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"I shall activate **Sleygal** 's skill," Ozpin told Jaune, flipping a card in his damage zone face down. "I counter blast, and now **Sleygal** 's power shall increase by 2000," **Sleygal** howled as it's power increased. "And I shall do this one more time," he flipped over another card and **Sleygal** grew stronger.

 **10000+2000+2000=14000**

"Now with a boost from **Gareth** , **Chariot Knight** shall attack your vanguard," Ozpin said as he turned the two cards on their sides. "And with its skill, **Chariot Knight** gets an additional 3000 power."

 **8000+8000+3000=19000**

"I don't guard!" Jaune told Ozpin, turning over a card from the top of his deck as the attack hit, but only succeeded in revealing another **Plasmabite Dragon**. He put it into his damage zone, bringing his damage up to 4.

"Now with a boost from **Sagramore** , **Sagramore** will attack," the silver haired man turned the two cards on their sides. "And now my vanguard's skill activates. When he attacks, I counter blast," he turned over the last remaining face up card in his damage zone. "And his power shall increase by another 3000."

 **10000+6000+3000=19000**

Jaune gulped and he grabbed two cards from his hand. "I guard with **Red River Dragoon** and **Zephyr Kid, Hayate**!" he put the two cards down in the guardian circle, trying to stop Ozpin's attack.

 **Zephyr Kid, Hayate**

 **Grade: 0 (Stand Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

 **10000+5000+10000=24000**

"I shall check my twin drive then," Ozpin said. He turned over the first card, revealing his **Charjgal**. "That's the first check, and now for the second," he mumbled as he turned over his second card, this time smiling slightly. " **Silent Punisher**. A critical trigger," the man said and he looked over his field. "I shall give all of the effects to **Sleygal**."

 **Charjgal**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Silent Punisher**

 **Grade: 0 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

Jaune sighed in relief as he picked up his guardians and put them into the drop zone. "You aren't out of the woods yet," Ozpin warned, turning his remaining two cards on their sides. "With a boost, **Sleygal Double Edge** shall attack your vanguard." A howl erupted as **Sleygal** charged.

 **14000+7000+5000=26000, Critical=2**

"I guard with **Zephyr Kid, Hayate**!" Jaune said, putting another stand trigger into the guardian circle. "Then I intercept with **Shieldblade Dragoon**!" he moved the card from the rear-guard to the guardian circle. "And with his skill, when I have a Narukami vanguard and he intercepts, his shield goes up by 5000!"

 **10000+10000+5000+5000=30000**

 **Sleygal** stopped as the guardians appeared and then jumped back. Ozpin smiled and nodded in approval. "Very well. I shall end my turn here."

 **Ozpin:**

 **Chariot Knight, Sagramore, Sleygal**

 **Gareth, Sagramore, Haugan**

 **Hand: 3**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Thunderstorm, None**

 **None, None, Red River**

 **Hand: 2**

 **Damage: 4**

Jaune sighed in relief as he put his two cards into the drop zone. "I stand and draw," Jaune stood his two units before he drew a card and his eyes widened just slightly, and he took a breath, and the air seemed to shift around him. Ozpin's eyes widened as he _felt_ Jaune's personality change. "I ride **Thunder Break Dragon**!" he slammed the card he just drew onto his Vanguard circle, and the red dragon of lightning roared loudly as it appeared on the battlefield.

 **Thunder Break Dragon**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"Counter Blast!" Jaune turned over two cards in his damage zone. "With that, I'm able to retire one of your Grade 2 or less rear-guards! And I pick your **Chariot Knight**!" Lightning surged and Ozpin's unit yelled as it disappeared, Ozpin putting the card in the drop zone. "Then I call! **Plasmabite Dragon** , and **Dragon Dancer, RaiRai**!" he put the two cards in his hand on the rear-guard circles.

 **Dragon Dancer, RaiRai**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Here goes!" Jaune breathed out. "With a boost from **Red River** , **Plasmabite Dragon** attacks your vanguard!" he turned the two cards on their side. "And with its skill, I counter blast!" he turned over one of the face-up cards in his damage zone. " **Plasmabite** gets 3000 power!" The dragon roared and fired lightning towards **Sagramore**.

 **10000+8000+3000=21000**

Ozpin hummed as he looked at his hand. "I will not guard your attack," the attack hit, and Ozpin turned over a card from his deck, only to reveal another **Beaumains**. He put it into his damage zone, bringing up his damage to 4.

"And now, with a boost from **RaiRai** , **Thunder Break Dragon** attacks!" he turned **RaiRai** on its side. " **RaiRai** 's skill!" He pulled **Lizard Soldier, Sishin** out from underneath his vanguard and put it in the drop zone. "When boosting **Thunder Break Dragon** , I can soul blast to give him an extra 5000 power!" he looked down at his vanguard before putting his hand on it and turning it on it's side. "I Limit Break! Since I have 4 damage, a special skill is activated! Since I'm attacking your vanguard, **Thunder Break Dragon** gets an extra 5000 power!" It let out a menacing roar as began to swing it's sword down at **Sagramore**.

 **10000+6000+5000+5000=26000**

"Not so fast," Ozpin put the remaining three cards in his hand into the guardian circle. "I guard with **Silent Punisher** , **Weapons Dealer, Gwydion** , and **Charjgal** ," all three units appeared on the field, blocking the way of the sword.

 **10000+10000+5000+5000=30000**

Jaune took a breath again and looked to his deck. "Checking the twin drive! First check..." he turned over the first card, revealing a **Brightjet Dragon**. He grimaced, "Dang it, not what I wanted..."

 **Brightjet Dragon**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"One last chance Mr Arc," Ozpin told him. "Will you remain a shy boy? Or will you become confident? It will all be determined by this draw."

Jaune's eyes widened at that, and he clenched his fist. _Loser...weak...why the hell are you even alive?_ Memories echoed in Jaune's mind. _You aren't anything but a coward, Arc!_

"I...I won't run away anymore!" Jaune told Ozpin as he grabbed the top card of his deck. "I won't let myself be shy! I will win!" he turned over the top card, and his eyes widened as he stared at it.

 **Yellow Gem Carbuncle**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

But more importantly than that...it was a critical trigger.

Slowly, a grin split on Jaune's face, and a small smile came onto Ozpin's lips. "I got a critical trigger!" Jaune said with glee. "I'll give all of the effects to my **Thunder Break Dragon**!" The dragon roared loudly as it's power grew to even more intense levels.

 **26000+5000=31000**

It swung its lightning covered sword down, easily taking out the three units guarding **Sagramore** ,before it's blade struck even Ozpin's Vanguard and the silver armoured warrior let out a yell.

Ozpin simply smiled. "Checking for Damage Triggers," Ozpin said, the tension still there as he turned over his first card. **Charjgal**. He put it into his damage zone. "And the second check..." he turned over his second card, and Jaune's smile grew wide, and Ozpin's became resigned. **Battlefield Storm, Sagramore**.

"I'm at six damage," Ozpin said. "I have lost. Well done, Jaune."

Jaune's grinned just grew wider before it vanished and a look of realization came over his face. "I...I won?"

Ozpin nodded. "Yes. It appears you were right about that deck calling out to you. As I said, you may have it."

The blonde just looked bewildered, even as Ozpin gathered up the cards from the trial deck he had just used and returned them to the shelf, and then he returned to the counter. Jaune looked at his deck before gathering up all his cards and rushing over to Ozpin. "U-um...can I buy a booster box please?"

His smile just grew a bit more. "For what set?" Ozpin asked.

Looking over, Jaune quickly decided. "Um, BT-06, since it's the most recent."

Ozpin nodded and pulled out the box. "That will be 6000 yen," Ozpin told him. **(100 Yen = 1 US Dollar)**

"Do you take card?" Jaune asked as he quickly pulled out his wallet. He often saved up money, so he had quite a lot of money in his account. Ozpin nodded and handed him the card reader, and the transaction was quickly done.

Ozpin gave Jaune the booster box, "Thank you for your purchase."

Jaune nodded and checked the time. "Oh no! I need to get home! I'm usually back by now and my parents and siblings are probably worried!" he bowed to Ozpin. "Thank you for the help sir! I'll be sure to come by tomorrow!" he quickly turned and ran out of the store, missing Ozpin's soft smile.

* * *

 _A few moments before..._

Ruby, Blake, and Yang were all walking down the street, heading towards Card Capital. The honest truth was the three of them were card fighters, and rather good ones at that. They had come in the top 5 in the last national tournament, and only just barely lost that last match they had.

"You know, I feel kind of bad for doing that to Jaune every time..." Ruby said to her sister and friend sadly. Honestly, she really liked Jaune. He was a funny guy and really sweet. But they didn't want him to think of them differently for being card fighters, which is why they never told him.

"I do too," Yang mumbled sadly. "We really have got to tell him at some point, at this rate I think he might start to really hate us..."

Blake nodded. "Yeah...okay how about this? We'll tell him on Monday, okay? We need to stop hiding it from him and be honest. And who knows?" Blake's smile began wistful. "Maybe he'll actually decide to become a card fighter too."

Yang laughed at that as Card Capital came into sight. "Sorry Blake, but I find it highly unlikely that Jaune would ever become a cardfigthe-"

"Thank you for the help sir!" a loud and rather _familiar_ voice interrupted them. "I'll be sure to come by tomorrow!" a figure ran out of the store, and all three of their jaws dropped to see it was Jaune holding...was that a deck? AND a booster box?

There was silence before all three walked into the store to see Ozpin smiling at them. "Hello you three, how can I help you?"

"Ozpin," Yang spoke. "Was...was that _Jaune_?"

The man raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Indeed it was Mr Arc. He was kind enough to help me unpack some boxes for me, so as a thank you I gave him a deck, and after a cardfight he bought a booster box. But he then left in a hurry since he felt his family might be worried about him. Why do you ask?"

The three all looked to each other with slack jaws. Their friend...Jaune Arc...was a card fighter now?

"Hey uh, Ozpin?" his gaze fell on Ruby. "What deck did he pick?"

Ozpin smiled and leaned back slightly, "He chose the Narukami Clan."

They all blinked. "Narukami? That's one of the clans that's starting to get a lot more support, isn't it?" Blake asked him, and Ozpin nodded.

"Indeed it is, Miss Belladonna," Ozpin smiled. "Much like Miss Rose's Gold Paladins are. And might I recommend you not confront him about this?"

"What?!" Yang yelled out. "But why not?!"

Ozpin smiled. "If you confront him about it, he may take it the wrong way. You should wait for him to talk to you about it, yes?"

They hesitated before nodding reluctantly. But despite this, they couldn't help but keep themselves from grinning.

Their best friend, Jaune Arc...was a card fighter now! Just like them!


	2. Chapter 2: A Tournament?

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Cardfight Vanguard**

 **Before we begin, I'm going to be answering some questions and concerns from last chapter. Let's begin.**

 **D.C Draco:**

 **Most people did see Jaune as that, but I never could for some reason. I always saw him more like a Narukami or Kagerou player. Also, some of the decks you guessed are wrong. I suppose I should mention the story right now is taking place a few months before the Asia Circuit, just after Blaster Blade, Blaster Dark, and Dragonic Overlord were sealed. While some of the guesses you put ARE correct, they will either not use the deck because it does not 'exist' due to the sealing, or for other reasons.**

 **DestinyVain:**

 **To answer that question, no. Yang will not be Kagero. I will clear things up a little however. In the tournament I mentioned, she used a Granblue deck, however she has changed deck now to one of the newer clans. And Blake will be using one of the Ninja decks, yes, though I am thinking about having her alternate between the two clans.**

 **Now, to help clear up some confusion, here are the decks that the four of them are going to use.**

 **Jaune: Narukami**

 **Ruby: Gold Paladin**

 **Yang: Angel Feather (Cause she takes damage and gets stronger, I'm basing it around her semblance) With a possibility of changing deck later on.**

 **Blake: Either Nubatama, or Murakumo (with a chance of having both, just alternating between decks. I might pick Murakumo as the main deck** **though, since I have my own Murakumo deck)**

 **Without further ado, let's get this chapter started! Stand up! Vanguard!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A Tournament?**

It had been about a week since Jaune had first began playing Vanguard. Since then, he had quickly began to modify his deck, buying booster boxes until he got the cards he needed. He had even bought 2 more copies of the trial deck, purely for a single card that was within them. Within only 4 days of starting the game, he had already completed his deck perfectly finished, just the way he wanted it.

Everyday after school during that week, he had bid his friends goodbye and quickly hurried down to the shop before it opened. He then helped out Ozpin a little bit, before the two had a card fight. Each time, Ozpin would use a slightly better deck from a different clan to help Jaune understand what strategies to use. But each time, with a little luck, Jaune would come out on top as the winner. He'd then thank Ozpin and promise to return the next day before leaving.

It was now Saturday, and Jaune had just beaten Ozpin in a card fight, and now Jaune was helping Ozpin unpack some boxes. "I really can't thank you enough for introducing me to Vanguard, Ozpin," Jaune told the store owner with a smile. He felt that he could really and truly call the store owner his friend now.

"It is no trouble Jaune," Ozpin told him as he finished unpacking one of the boxes. He had grown fond of the blonde teen over the last few weeks, he found his presence very relaxing. Being stuck behind a counter all day was incredibly boring sometimes, so Jaune coming in everyday and card fighting Ozpin gave him a great deal of relaxation that he needed. In turn, he had been able to give the blonde some more confidence.

But Jaune was still quite reclusive. He only came while the store was closed and only card fought Ozpin until just before the store opened, at which point he would leave. Ozpin needed something to break out of his shell, and he had the perfect thing in mind. He just wondered how he should bring it up.

As if god were answering his prayer, Jaune spoke up. "Hey Ozpin...do you...think I'm good enough to enter a tournament?"

 _That_ made Ozpin blink in surprise. Jaune's confidence really _had_ gone up a lot in the past week, more than Ozpin was aware. "Well..." Ozpin hummed before smiling. "Truth be told Jaune, for the last 2 days we've been card fighting, I have been playing at quite a high level, but you have still won. I think you are more than ready to enter a tournament, why do you ask?"

Jaune gulped. "W-well...the regional tournament singles division starts today. There's no national singles tournament this year since they are apparently planning some really big competition. But there's a rumour going around that the winner of the regional tournament will be able to enter that big competition. And...and I want to enter. Preliminaries to decide the 16 people entering the regional tournament start today, and I want to enter..."

Ozpin blinked in surprise once more, before smiling. "I will do you one better, Jaune. I will drive you there. My assistant manager can take care of the store today, I'll just give her a quick call."

The blonde's eyes widened before he let out a wide smile. "Thanks so much Ozpin!"

"It's no trouble," he said honestly before he headed to the back to make a phone call...but Glynda Goodwitch wasn't the only person he was calling. Before he called her, he rang another number. He waited patiently until they picked up. "Hello. Yes Miss Rose, it's Ozpin. I suggest you head over to the card fight stadium. Why? Because Mr Arc has decided to participate in the regional tournament."

* * *

Ruby, Yang, and Blake were all having a girl's day out, though they weren't talking about Vanguard like they usually would.

Instead they were discussing their best friend, Jaune Arc.

Only a week ago, he had become a Card Fighter, and they had immediately noticed the change in his personality. He had become more open to them than before, and a hell of a lot more confident. He was a lot more chatty than before too, which the girls liked since before he was rather quiet and it took a LONG time to get him to talk as much as he did.

But he did do something that rather hurt them now. After school, he usually asked them if they wanted to hang out, which they'd politely refuse because they wanted to go to Card Capital like usual. However as of late, Jaune had stopped asking them. Instead he'd talk to them for a few minutes after school, before excusing himself and running away. And a few minutes later, they'd arrive at Card Capital, only to have Ozpin tell them how they'd just missed Jaune.

He told them about how Jaune had very, _very_ quickly improved as a card fighter, and Ozpin vaguely mentioned that it almost seemed as if the cards were telling Jaune what to do so he could win, but he never expanded on that. It made the girls both proud but also a little sad. Proud because their friend was becoming so good at the game so fast, but also upset that they weren't there to watch him get better.

"So..." Yang said a little awkwardly. "Who thought Jaune would be such a good card fighter? Ozpin doesn't give out praise so easily, and if he says Jaune is good, then he must be pretty good."

Blake nodded in agreement. "Yeah...but Narukami? I didn't think Jaune would pick that one. He seems more like a Gold Paladin user like Ruby is."

Ruby nodded in agreement with that. "Yeah, or at least a clan from the United Sanctuary. I really can't see Jaune as a dragon empire player at all, ya know?" The two nodded in agreement, and Ruby felt her phone vibrate. "Hold on, I'm getting a call," she pulled out her phone and blinked. "Ozpin's calling me?"

That caused the two to blink in surprise. "Why is Ozpin calling you?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Well don't just wait," Yang urged. "Pick up! Maybe he's telling us about a new booster set!"

Ruby complied, picking up the phone. "Is that you Ozpin?" his voice confirmed her question, before she blinked. "Why do you want us to head over to the cardfight arena?" Ruby said in confusion. Then her eyes widened as Ozpin spoke. "We'll be there right away!" she quickly hung up the phone and stood. "Come on! We gotta hurry!"

"Huh?" Yang and Blake blinked. "Why?"

"Because Jaune's going to enter the regional tournament!" Ruby told them loudly, causing their eyes to widen.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

Jaune fidgeted nervously as he got out of Ozpin's car, looking up at the huge cardfight arena. "Woah...this place is...gigantic," he said in awe. And he would be competing in this place!

Ozpin nodded. "Hurry though Jaune. Only the first 128 to sign up will be able to participate in the preliminaries."

Panic surged through Jaune as he dashed towards the desk, while inwardly thankful that nobody else was there. The attendant, a somewhat pretty woman, looked up to him. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"I'd uh...like to sign up for the Regional Championship preliminaries," he told her somewhat nervously.

The woman nodded. "You are quite lucky sir, as there was only one final spot open, the other 127 have been taken." Jaune sighed in relief that he had gotten so lucky. "Are you aware of how the preliminaries and the tournament will work?" A shake of the head was her answer. "I'll explain it then. The preliminaries are simple one-on-one matches, one victory moves you on. Pairings are random. The people who win three games move on to the main tournament that will happen tomorrow. Those matches will be one game decides it as well, until the final match that will be best two out of three games. Did you understand all that?"

He nodded. "Yes, I did. Thank you."

The woman nodded. "It is no trouble. Now, I need your name and age and what clan you are using, and you will be all signed up."

"I'm Jaune Arc, 15 years old," he told her. "I'm going to be using the Narukami Clan."

She quickly typed in his information. "And...done. You are now entered in the tournament. Please head to Fight Area B. You may bring your coach if you have one."

"Ah, yeah. Thank you!" he turned and left, running to Ozpin before he grinned. "I'm in!"

Ozpin let out a brief smile. "Good. Which Fight Area?"

"B," Jaune told him. "And uh...your kind of my coach, so could you come with me?" Jaune didn't only ask this because Ozpin was his coach, but because he wanted a familiar face with him when he was in such a large crowd. He often got stage freight, so he _needed_ Ozpin there.

The silver haired man nodded. "Of course Jaune. Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

Ruby, Yang, and Blake all sat in the stands, staring down at the arena. "Woah, that's a lot of card fighters..." Ruby said in awe at the amount. She and the others had made it to nationals, so there were a lot, but seeing it from up high was a whole other thing! There was just so many people, it was shocking.

"Tell me about it..." Yang mumbled in shock. "How many of them is Jaune gonna have to face? And where IS Jaune anyway?"

Blake pointed. "He's there," she told them, a little excitement in her voice. The other two looked and, sure enough, standing there with a confused and nervous look on his face was Jaune Arc, Ozpin by his side.

"I didn't think he was actually serious..." Ruby mumbled. The others looked at her. "Ozpin I mean. I didn't think he was actually serious about Jaune entering the tournament...but I'm glad he is!" Ruby smiled at them. "Cause now we get to see his card fighting skills first hand!"

They all smiled and the crowd fell silent as the announcers of the tournament, Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck, were standing on the stage with the spotlight shining on them. Peter was a man with his eyes pretty much always closed, but a cheerful personality. He had a thick white moustache, and neat hair done. He was dressed in a red suit. Oobleck was much the opposite to him, with green hair that looked very rough, and his brown eyes incredibly wide and covered by his glasses. He was dressed in a white suit, but it was very rugged and rough, as if he had truoble putting it on.

"Welcome everyone, to the Cardfight Vanguard Regional Tournament Singles Division!" Peter said, his voice booming into the microphone. "Today, we begin the preliminaries! 128 people have signed up! Rounds will be single game elimination! Which means if you lose a game, you are out of the tournament!"

"Player's must accumulate three wins in order to move on to the main tournament," Oobleck said to the crowd quickly, his voice rushed as if he had just drunk a LOT of coffee. "Because we have so many competitors, we will be using smaller Card Fight tables without any holograms! But rest assured, we will be using the main system tomorrow in the main tournament! Judges will be assigned to each game to be sure there is no cheating!"

Peter nodded. "Indeed! Now, let's begin!" On the large screen, names flashed until all the pairings were made. "This will be the tournament bracket! Now, let's begin! Say it with me now!" The crowd cheered. "Stand up! Vanguard!"

Down on the field, Jaune saw he was to go to the first card fight table, and so he did. He looked across to see his opponent, and he greatly paled. Why...why was one of _them_ a card fighter!

Standing opposite him was Sky Lark. One of the bulliest that picked on him at school. "Well, well, well," he said with a smirk. "If it ain't Jauney! Your a card fighter? Who knew?" he laughed. "Man, beating you and crushing your dreams will be sweet!" he smirked as he put down his starting vanguard and started shuffling his deck.

Jaune said nothing, though his pale face made his worry clear as he put down his own starting vanguard and began to shuffle his deck, putting it down he drew his five cards, then grabbed only one of them. "I'll return one to the deck," he told the judge who nodded and be shuffled it back into the deck before drawing a new card.

Sky smirked, "Heh, I don't even NEED to redraw!" he said cockily.

The judge spoke up here. "A coin toss to decide who goes first," he glanced at Jaune. "Call it."

"Tails," Jaune mumbled.

The judge flipped the coin and caught it, before checking. "Tails. Jaune Arc will have the first move."

"Not like it matters," Sky said arrogantly.

Jaune did his best to ignore him, and both grabbed their cards. "Stand Up!" he and Sky said together. "Vanguard!" They both flipped over their cards, Jaune's being a white armoured lizard warrior, and Sky's being a mechanical robot dressed like a football coach.

" **Mecha Trainer**!" Sky said with a smirk, revealing his clan to be Spike Brothers.

 **Mecha Trainer**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

" **Lizard Soldier, Saishin**!" Jaune shot right back. "I draw!" he drew a card and looked over his hand before playing. "I ride **Red River Dragoon**!" He played the red armoured male onto his vanguard circle. "With **Saishin** 's skill, I move him back to a rear-guard circle!" he pulled it back, moving it to behind his vanguard. "That'll do it for me."

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Red River, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 0**

"Then I draw!" Sky drew before smirking. "I ride **Wonder Boy**!" he placed it onto the vanguard circle, revealing a young teen wearing football clothing and carrying a spiked ball. "Then I move **Mecha Trainer** back!" he pulled it back to behind his vanguard. "And then with a boost, **Wonder Boy** will attack your vanguard!"

 **Wonder Boy**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **8000+5000=13000**

"I won't guard that attack," Jaune told him.

Sky smirked. "I check for a drive trigger," he turned over his card and his grin grew wider. "Oh look at that! **Silence Joker**! A critical trigger! Obviously all effects will be going to **Wonder Boy**!" his vanguard threw its spiked ball and hit **Red River** in the chest.

 **13000+5000=18000**

 **Silence Joker**

 **Grade: 0 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

Jaune grit his teeth a little. "Checking for damage triggers," he mumbled. "First..." he turned over the card to reveal another **Red River** , which he put into his damage zone. "And second check..." he turned over his second card, and this time Sky grit his teeth. " **Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo**!" Jaune said with glee. "A heal trigger! I give 5000 power to my vanguard, and I recover one damage!" he put **Seiobo** into his damage zone before he took **Red River** out of it and put it in the drop zone.

 **8000+5000=13000**

 **Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo**

 **Grade: 0 (Heal Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

"Tch, you got lucky," Sky told him. "I end my turn."

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Red River, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 1**

 **Sky:**

 **None, Wonder Boy, None**

 **None, Mecha Trainer, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 0**

"Then I draw," Jaune drew a card. "I'll ride **Thunderstorm Dragoon**!" he placed the card on his vanguard circle, and it appeared on Cray with a smirk. "Then I activate **Saishin** 's skill!" he turned over a card in his damage zone and put **Saishin** into the soul. "I retire **Mecha Trainer**!"

Sky grumbled a little before picking up his card and putting it into the drop zone. Perfect, now he wouldn't be able to get a Perfect guard to his hand.

"Then I'll call **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda** and **Photon Bomber Wyvern**!" he placed the two cards onto the field, **Garuda** standing to his Vanguard's left and **Photon Bomber** directly behind.

 **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Photon Bomber Wyvern**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"To start things off, **Garuda** attacks your vanguard!" Jaune announced as he turned the unit on its side. On Cray, the orange creature readied its cannons to fire.

"I won't guard," Sky told him. **Garuda** fired away, its blasts slamming into **Wonder** **Boy**. "Damage trigger check," he turned over a card, revealing his **Highspeed, Brakki**. A good card for sure, but not what he needed right now. So he put it into his damage zone.

 **Highspeed, Brakki**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Since **Garuda** dealt damage, I can un-flip a card in my damage zone," he un-flipped his heal trigger. "Then with a boost," he turned **Photon Bomber** on its side before he did the same for his vanguard. " **Thunderstorm Dragoon** will attack your vanguard!" The warrior hefted its spear.

 **10000+6000=16000**

"I'll guard that with **Silence Joker**!" Sky told him as he put the card into his guardian circle.

Jaune glanced to his deck. "Then I check for a drive trigger!" he turned over the card. " **Old Dragon Mage**! A draw trigger!" he grinned. "The power will go to my vanguard, and then I draw a card!" he drew a card as his Vanguard's spear crashed through Sky's defence and into **Wonder Boy**.

 **16000+5000=21000**

 **Old Dragon Mage**

 **Grade: 0 (Draw Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Damn it!" Sky cursed. "Check for a damage trigger!" he turned over another card, this time revealing a **General Siegfried**. "Damn!" he put the card in his damage zone.

"That'll do it for me!" Jaune said with a smile.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunderstorm, None**

 **None, Photon Bomber, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 1**

 **Sky:**

 **None, Wonder Boy, None**

 **None, None, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 2**

Up in the stands, the girls had been watching Jaune's game closely and were in shock. "Woah..." Ruby mumbled in awe. "Ozpin was right. Jaune...isn't just good! He's great!"

Yang nodded as well, grinning. "Yeah! Jaune is finally getting some vengeance on Sky! But who knew he was a card fighter?"

"He isn't the only one..." Blake mumbled before pointing to the screen. Ruby and Yang looked, and they paled. "Dove, Russell and Cardin are Card Fighters too. And they all use Spike Brothers."

"It's my move!" Sky said. "I stand and I draw!" he stood his vanguard and drew a card. _Fuck!_ he thought. _Jauney-boy is better than I thought! And right now I'm a little stuck. I've only got two grade 2 units in my hand, and neither is suited for the vanguard circle...tsk, guess I'll pick this one._ Grabbing a card from his hand, Sky glared at Jaune. "I ride **Fierce Leader, Zachary**!" he slammed the unit onto the field revealing an ogre dressed as a footballer holding a spiked ball and...a gun?

 **Fierce Leader, Zachary**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Then I'll call **Highspeed, Brak** **ki** and **Wonder Boy**!" He placed **Brakki** on his Vanguard's right, with **Wonder Boy** directly behind. "To start off, **Zachary** will attack your vanguard!"

"I don't guard," Jaune responded.

Sky smirked. "I check for a drive trigger," he turned over the top card but frowned. It was his main grade three, **General Siegfried**. It was good to have drawn it, but he didn't NEED it. **Zachary** tackled Jaune's vanguard, making it yell out.

 **General Siegfried**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"Damage check," Jaune turned over a card, putting his **Thunder Break Dragon** into the damage zone.

"Then with a boost from **Wonder Boy** ," Sky spoke. " **Brakki** attacks!" turning the two cards on their side, **Brakki** charged in.

 **9000+8000=17000**

Jaune shook his head. "I won't guard," once more, his Vanguard was tackled and he turned over another card, this time putting his **Desert Gunner, Raien** into the damage zone. It was a good Grade 1 to use, but its effect only lasted a single turn so it wasn't too great a loss.

 **Desert Gunner, Raien**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"I'm done," Sky said, gritting his teeth. His hand was crap right now. He didn't have a Perfect guard in his hand, and he held two Grade 3 units, which wouldn't help with his guarding.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunderstorm, None**

 **None, Photon Bomber, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Sky:**

 **None, Zachary, Brakki**

 **None, None, Wonder Boy**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Damage: 2**

"I stand and draw," Jaune said as he quickly stood his units and drew card. "I ride **Thunder Break Dragon**!" he slammed the card down as the first Grade 3 he used roared out, appearing on the battlefield. Jaune debated on using its skill, but decided against it. "Then I call my **Desert Gunner, Shiden** and **Red River Dragoon**!" he placed **Shiden** to his Vanguard's right, but **Red River** behind **Garuda**. "With **Shiden** 's skill, when I call or ride it, I can pick one of your rear-guards, and it can't intercept this turn! I pick **Brakki**!" said unit took a knee on Cray, unable to intercept now.

 **Desert Gunner, Shiden**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

" **Shiden** attacks first!" he turned the card on its side and the unit fired bullets towards Sky's.

"I don't guard..." Sky grumbled, sweating slightly as his unit was hit. "Damage check..." he turned over a card and let out a small sigh of relief. "Cheerful Lynx, a draw trigger! The power goes to my vanguard, and I draw one card!" he put it into his damage zone before he drew a card.

 **9000+5000=14000**

"With a boost from **Photon Bomber** , **Thunder Break** will attack your vanguard!" he turned the two cards sideways. " **Photon** **Bomber** 's skill! When it boosts my vanguard, if you have three or more damage, then I increase my vanguard's power by an extra 4000!"

 **10000+6000+4000=20000**

"Not so fast!" Sky said, grabbing a card from his hand. "I guard that with **Cheer Girl, Tiara** and **Reckless Express**!" he put the two cards onto the guardian circle to protect his vanguard.

 **Cheer Girl, Tiara**

 **Grade: 0 (Heal Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

 **Reckless Express**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **14000+1000+5000=29000**

"Dang..." Jaune grumbled. "I check the twin drive! First..." he turned over a card, revealing a **Thunderstorm Dragoon**. "Second check..." he turned over the second card, and held back a sigh of relief at the sight of **Wyvern Guard, Guld** , his perfect guard. "With a boost from **Red River** , **Garuda** will attack!" he turned the two cards onto their sides.

 **Wyvern Guard, Guld**

 **Grade: 1 (Perfect Guard)**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 0**

Glancing down at his hand, Sky clicked his tongue. "I won't guard that," he said, grunting as his vanguard got hit. "I check for a damage trigger..." he turned over his top card and grit his teeth at the lack of a heal trigger, instead having revealed his **Juggernaut Maximum**. He put it into the damage zone.

 **Juggernaut Maximum**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 11000**

"That will do it for my move," Jaune said, gulping lightly as he glanced at his hand. Based on what he had, he should be okay to survive the next turn.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunder Break, Shiden**

 **Red River, Photon Bomber, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Sky:**

 **Brakki, Zachary, None**

 **Wonder Boy, None, None**

 **Hand: 3**

 **Damage: 4**

Sky glanced at his hand, gulping. "I stand and draw," he stood his three cards, before drawing. "I ride **General Siegfried**!" The armoured general appeared on the battlefield, his single eye gleaming evilly. "Then I call **Juggernaut Maximum** and **Reckless Express**!" he placed **Maximum** on the right while calling **Reckless Express** behind his vanguard. "This is over Jauney-boy! With a boost, **Brakki** attacks! And with his soul blast, he gets an extra 5000 power!" He pulled **Wonder Boy** out of the soul, putting it into his drop zone.

 **9000+8000+5000=22000**

Jaune glanced at his hand. "I won't guard that attack," he told Sky as the attack hit. "Check..." he turned over the top card, groaning at the sight of his **Dragonic Deathscythe**. He put it into the damage zone, bringing his total damage to 4.

 **Dragonic Deathscythe**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

" **Brakki** returns to the deck after using his skill," he grabbed the card and shuffled it back in before putting his deck down. "Next up, **Juggernaut Maximum** attacks," he grinned as he turned the card on its side. "And with his soul blast..." he pulled **Zachary** out of the soul and put it in the drop zone. "5000 additional power!" His grade 3 charged towards **Thunder Break**.

 **11000+5000=16000**

"I intercept with **Shiden**!" Jaune said as he moved the card into the guardian circle. "And then I guard with **Old Dragon Mage**!" he placed it onto the field, the two units blocking off **Maximum** 's attack, before they were put into the drop zone. Jaune's hand was now down to 4.

 **10000+5000+5000=20000**

" **Maximum** returns to the deck once his skill resolves," Sky said, putting the card back and shuffling. "With a boost from **Reckless Express** , **General Siegfried** will attack!" Sky smirked as he turned the cards onto their sides, as his unit raised it's hand as a dark orb of energy began to form.

 **10000+7000=17000**

"I guard with **Wyvern Guard, Guld**!" Jaune said, putting it onto the guardian circle. "And now I discard **Thunderstorm** **Dragoon** to nullify your attack!" he put the card into the drop zone, as on Cray the wyvern appeared, setting up a barrier to cancel out **Siegfried** 's attempt to hurt his unit.

Sky grit his teeth at that. "Checking the twin drive. First..." he turned over a card and smirked at the sight of his Grade 3 unit, **Sky Diver**. "When **General Siegfried** reveals a Grade 3 on his drive check, I can superior call it!" he placed the unit to the left of his vanguard. "And the second check..." his smirk grew wider at the sight of his second **Sky Diver**. "And that's my second **Sky Diver**!" he put it to the right of his vanguard.

 **Sky Diver**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 11000**

Jaune grit his teeth a small amount as he picked up his Perfect Guard and put it into the drop zone. "Now the **Sky Diver** on the left attacks your vanguard!" Sky laughed as he turned the card on its side.

"I guard with **Desert Gunner, Raien**!" Jaune placed the card onto the guardian circle, knowing of **Sky Diver** 's effect, and not wanting to risk the chance of there being a unit with 10000 power in Sky's hand. Once the attack resolved, he put it into the drop zone, bringing his hand down to 3.

Sky grit his teeth, but there was still a chance he could win if he could hit his attack. " **Sky Diver** on the right will attack your vanguard!"

"Not a chance!" Jaune told him. "I guard with **Garuda**!" he grabbed a **Garuda** from his hand and put it onto the guardian circle, successfully guarding the attack, then putting his card into the drop zone.

Sky looked horrified that his plan hadn't worked, but he kept calm, somehow. "You got lucky! I'll finish it next turn!"

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunder Break, None**

 **Red River, Photon Bomber, None**

 **Hand: 2**

 **Damage: 4**

 **Sky:**

 **Sky Diver, Siegfried, Sky Diver**

 **Wonder Boy, Reckless Express, None**

 **Hand: 1**

 **Damage: 4**

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered. "Go Jaune! Kick Sky's ass!"

"Quiet down Ruby," Blake hissed at her, covering her mouth. "We wanna cheer for Jaune too, but if he finds out we've been going behind his back, he'll be pissed at us beyond belief!"

"B-but..." Ruby looked down.

Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Ruby, we feel the same. But for now, let's just watch him kick Sky's butt!"

Down on the field, Jaune took a deep breath, closing his eyes.. _Man, that was too close..._ Jaune thought. _I can't lose here! I haven't even begun! I...I don't want to lose! Especially to Sky! I want...I want..._

 _I want...to win!_

His eyes snapped open and the air around him shifted. A very strange and ominous feeling was around him as he looked at his deck. "What is this..." he mumbled softly before shaking his head. It was as if he could hear his cards... _speaking_ to him. He looked back at Sky before taking a breath. "I stand and I draw," he stood his cards and drew, before his eyes widened and he smiled a little. He held up his card, drawing attention from a lot of people. "Break out of the cage that binds you and spread your heavenly wings, incarnation of thunder!" Jaune chanted. "I ride the vanguard!" he slammed the card onto **Thunder Break Dragon**. " **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**!" In a flash of lightning, Jaune's new dragon appeared, letting out a powerful roar as lightning ran along its orange body, wearing golden armour.

 **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 11000**

Jaune grinned as his ace card now sat on the field. "I call **Thunderstorm Dragoon** and **Desert Gunner Raien**!" he placed the remaining two cards in his hand on the right column. He looked at Sky before he began to speak, "Limits are simply walls that we must overcome. And when we overcome them, we hit a new level of power!" On Cray, **Vermillion** roared as it's eyes glowed. " **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion** 's Limit Break!" he flipped over three cards in his damage zone. "Counter blast! Vermillion's power increases by 2000!" The dragon roared as it's power grew. "And on top of that, I don't need to pick a target. Because my attack will hit your entire front row!"

 **11000+2000=13000**

Sky's eyes widened. "M-my entire front row?!"

"That's right!" Jaune grinned. "With a boost from **Photon Bomber** , **Vermillion** attacks! And with **Photon Bomber** 's skill, an extra 4000 power is added!" **Vermillion** roared as it raised it's sword, lightning crackling along it.

 **13000+6000+4000=23000**

Sky gulped and looked at the single card in his hand, a **Silence Joker**. "I don't guard!" he declared. _I can guard one of his attacks at the least with **Silence Joker**! _ he thought. _As long as I get a heal trigger and he doesn't get any triggers, I win!_

"Checking twin drive," Jaune said, his expression never wavering. "The first..." he flipped over a card and Sky sighed in relief at the sight of a **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**. "And the second check..." he turned over the second card, and his grin grew, and Sky paled.

 **Yellow Gem Carbuncle.**

A critical trigger.

"I give the power to **Garuda** ," Jaune said as the twin cannon demon got stronger. "But the critical will stay with **Vermillion**!" The dragon roared louder as lightning arced towards Sky's front row. "Go forth and destroy, lightning of the apocalypse! Vermillion Thunderbolt!" The lightning struck Sky's three units, which all roared in pain, both **Sky Diver** s being sent to the drop zone.

"Tch, it isn't over!" Sky yelled at him. "Come on...damage check!" he flipped over the first card and grimaced, seeing his **Panzer Gale**. He put it into his damage zone. "Second check!" he flipped over the second card and his hand trembled. " **General Siegfried**..." he dropped the card.

The judge raised the arm that was closest to Jaune. "The Winner: Jaune Arc!"

The crowd cheered and Jaune looked at the screen as Sky's name was crossed out, and a red line moved above his name, signalling he was moving on. "I...won?" he said in mild disbelief. "I...I won!" he threw his hands up in celebration, before he looked at Sky with a grin and put out his hand. "Good game!"

Sky looked at Jaune in disbelief, and the girls were also in shock at his action. Slowly, but surely, Sky reached out and shook Jaune's hand. "You too Jaune...but I won't lose next time, count on it!"

Jaune grins, "I'll take you on any time!" he told him cheerfully.

"You'd better not lose to anybody else in this tournament, Jaune," Sky warned with a small smile as he gathered up his deck and gave him a nod before turning and leaving.

Jaune smiled as he gathered his own deck, staring at his ace card. "Thank you... **Vermillion**..."

Up in the stands, Ruby, Yang, and Blake were all giddy. "He won!" Ruby cheered. "He won! He actually beat Sky!"

Yang nodded, feeling really excited. "Go Jaune! You the man!"

Blake simply smiled at her long time friend, before turning to the other two. "You know...I think we have room for one more spot on our team..."

The two of them looked at Blake with matching wide grins.

Down on the field, Ozpin patted Jaune's shoulder with a small smile, "I told you that you could do it."

Jaune nodded at him. "Yeah! I won't lose! I'll win this whole thing!"

* * *

 **Jaune's Narukami Deck:**

 **Grade 0:**

 **Lizard Soldier, Saishin x1 (Starter)**

 **Malevolent Djinn x4 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Yellow Gem Carbuncle x4 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Old Dragon Mage x4 (Draw Trigger)**

 **Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo (Heal Trigger)**

 **Grade 1:**

 **Wyvern Guard, Guld x4 (Perfect Guard)**

 **Red River Dragoon x4 (8k booster)**

 **Desert Gunner, Raien x4 (Intercept stopper)**

 **Photon Bomber Wyvern x2 (10k vanguard booster)**

 **Grade 2:**

 **Thunderstorm Dragoon x4 (10k base attacker)**

 **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda x3 (Damage un-flipper)**

 **Desert Gunner, Shiden x3 (9k attacker, Intercept Stopper)**

 **Dragonic Deathscythe x2 (9k attacker, retires rear-guards without attacking. Can use up counter blasts if not careful, which is reason for only 2)**

 **Grade 3:**

 **Thunder Break Dragon x 3 (Substitute for main G3, 10k base attacker on RG and discard card for Perfect guard to prevent too much card waste)**

 **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion x4 (11k Base attacker, main vanguard, hits entire front row with limit break)**


	3. Chapter 3: Semi-Finals! Jaune VS Emerald

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Cardfight Vanguard**

 **Responding to a few more reviews here, so enjoy:**

 **Gilgamesh The King of Heroes:**

 **Yeah, despite this being a fanfic and Jaune being a nice guy, he WILL be getting pissed at them. But not because of them playing vanguard to ditch him, but more because they thought he would be mad at them. He will only be mad for not telling him sooner, but he won't forgive them instantly.**

 **RPGPersona:**

 **That was the idea of the fic. Jaune would be like Aichi, and I've yet to decide if there will really be a 'Kai' that he strives to be, I'm more leaning on the thought of having him admire Ozpin. Yes, the assista-cat is still there, but it is Glynda's cat that she only brings with her when she's tending to the store too.**

 **Clans used by players:**

 **Team CRDL: Spike Brothers**

 **Nora: Tachikaze**

 **Ren: Either Megacolony, or Oracle Think Tank (if Oracle Think Tank, he'll change to using Genesis after the Circuit)**

 **Pyrrha: D-Police**

 **You'll have to wait to see any player's clans now. Also, due to some PMs and convincing points, this is now the harem: Ruby, Yang, Blake, Cinder**

 **Now, let's begin! Stand Up! Vanguard!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Semi-Final: Jaune VS Emerald!**

Taking Sky's words to heart, Jaune didn't lose to any other challenger he came across in the preliminaries, and two matches later, he was entered into the main tournament. To say he was happy would be an understatement. Jaune was absolutely ecstatic that he had been able to win, and even more so that he was in the main tournament.

Nothing was able to wipe the grin off of his face that day. Nor was anyone able to wipe the smiles off the faces of his three friends up in the stands at seeing his victory.

Time passed quickly though, and soon enough it was already Sunday and time for the main tournament. Jaune stood proudly, grinning as he waited to be called up to play. Looking at his first opponent, he almost felt a twisted sense of satisfaction.

It was Dove Bronzewing.

He was able to defeat him, though with difficulty. His deck was very similar to Sky's, so Jaune got lucky in that regard. Though Jaune WAS distracted by the holograms of his units, and sparkles came into his eyes at the sight of being able to see his units as if they were real.

Jaune didn't have much luck with his next opponent either. It was as if the Universe were pairing him up against the 4 main bulliest at his school.

His second opponent in the main tournament was Russell Thrush. Once more though, his deck was incredibly similar to Sky's, so Jaune almost knew his deck inside and out, and was once again able to win the match. Ruby, Yang, and Blake cheered for their friend after he won each match, though they did have to be quiet so that they wouldn't be noticed by him. They wanted to tell him they played, not for him to find out by seeing them.

It was Jaune's opponent in the Semi-Finals that he was most worried about, however. He was able to assume Cardin used Spike Brothers, so he should have been okay on that front, but Emerald was a mystery to him. He didn't know what deck she used, her personality, nothing.

He didn't like mysteries, really he didn't.

And yet he had no choice, as he stood opposite her on the fight field, tightening his gloves as he was able to get a good look at her.

She was thin, with medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair was a light, mint-green cut with a straight fringe and bangs, as well as two long locks on each side, in the back. She was dressed in rather simple clothing, just a pair of white jeans and a tight green t-shirt.

"We come to the first Semi-Final Match!" Peter's voice boomed. "And it is Jaune Arc, the beginner Narukami user who has won match after match to get here, and has made it all the way to the Semi-Finals on his first try!"

Oobleck nodded. "He shall be up against a familiar face from Nationals last year, Miss Emerald Sustrai of Team Fall! She has been known to change decks a fair amount, and it leaves one to wonder what deck she will be using today!"

Yang growled. "There she is..." she spoke in anger. Last year at Nationals, Emerald's team had been the one that had knocked them out of the tournament. Blake had started them off, beating their first fighter Mercury. But things had gone downhill from there when Yang lost to Emerald. Ruby got so close to beating Cinder, but she just came up short (no pun intended).

"I didn't realize she was in the tournament..." Blake mumbled sadly.

Emerald shuffled her deck, putting it down and drawing five cards. "Sorry," she said to him, making him blink in confusion. "But you aren't going to win here."

Jaune frowned and shuffled his deck before drawing his five cards. "We'll see..." he shot back as he put 3 cards back and shuffled, redrawing. He noticed Emerald only put four cards back. The field activated as they both put hands on their units.

"Now Stand Up!" they said together, flipping them over. "Vanguard!"

Appearing on the field, their units stood opposite each other. " **Lizard Soldier, Saishin**!" Jaune said.

" **Girl Who Crossed The Gap**!" Emerald declared as she revealed her unit, a blue haired girl in a pink fluffy skirt and red and black clothing.

 **Girl Who Crossed The Gap**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

"Pale Moon huh...?" Jaune mumbled absent mindedly.

"I hope you don't mind if I have the first move," she said. "After all, ladies first."

This made him raise an eyebrow, but he didn't complain. "Go right ahead."

"Perfect," she drew a card. "I'll ride **Midnight Bunny**!" he placed the card down and her Vanguard was replaced by a girl in pink bunny clothing. " **Girl Who Crossed The Gap** moves back," she dragged it out the soul, putting it behind her Vanguard. "Your turn."

 **Midnight Bunny**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Draw," Jaune told her, picking up a card. "I ride **Desert Gunner, Raien**!" he slammed it down, before moving **Saishin** behind his Vanguard. " **Saishin** moves back. Then I call **Red River Dragoon**!" he placed the unit to the right of his vanguard, the red armoured warrior standing ready.

" **Red River** starts off the attack!" he turned it on its side as the warrior threw it's spear.

Emerald shrugged, "I don't guard." The spear slammed into her Vanguard. "Check for a damage trigger..." she turned over a card, clicking her tongue at the sight of her **Hades Hypnotist**. She could have used that Perfect Guard. She put it into her damage zone.

 **Hades Hypnotist**

 **Grade: 1 (Perfect Guard)**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 0**

"Then with a boost from **Saishin** , it's **Raien** 's turn!" Jaune told her as he turned the cards on their sides.

 **7000+5000=12000**

"Once again, I don't guard," Emerald told him.

Jaune nodded. "Checking the drive trigger," he turned over his top card, and he let out a small smile at the sight of his **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**.

Emerald checked for a damage trigger, only to reveal her **Mirror Demon** , and she once more clicked her tongue. Another good card she was forced to lose. But she put it in the damage zone regardless.

 **Mirror Demon**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"That will end my turn," Jaune told her with a small smile on his lips.

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Raien, Red River**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 0**

 **Emerald:**

 **None, Bunny, None**

 **None, Girl Who Crossed The Gap, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 2**

"And it's the end of Jaune's turn!" Peter boomed. "And he wasted no time in dealing damage to Emerald, who now sits at two damage!"

"Quite!" Oobleck agreed. "And Mr Arc revealed his ace card on his drive check, so we can be sure it will make an appearance in this game! It gives on the thought on how exactly Miss Sustrai plans to return the favour?"

Emerald drew a card. "I ride **Dancing Princess of the Night Sky**!" she slammed it down, the blonde circus girl appearing on the battle field, smiling. Emerald then smirked and turned over a card in her damage zone, putting it face-down. "And with her skill, when she's played I can take a Pale Moon unit Grade 2 or less and put it into she soul," she looked through her deck before grabbing **Barking Cerberus** and putting it into the soul, then she shuffled her deck and put it down.

 **Dancing Princess of the Night Sky**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 8000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Barking Cerberus**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 10000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Then I call **Skull Juggler**!" she played the unit to the bottom left of her Vanguard "And with its skill, I Soul Charge!" she put the top card of her deck into the soul, revealing it as a **Purple Trapezist**. "Then I'll use the skill of **Girl Who Crossed The Gap**!" she flipped over her other card and slid the card into the soul, before sliding out **Barking Cerberus**. "Superior Call, **Barking Cerberus**!" she put it in front of **Skull Juggler**.

 **Skull Juggler**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Purple Trapezist**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"With support from **Skull Juggler** , **Barking Cerberus** attacks **Raien**!" she turned the cards sideways and **Cerberus** roared out as it charged.

Jaune glanced over his hand before making his choice. "I don't guard!" he grunted as the attack hit and he turned over his top card, revealing his **Photon Bomber Wyvern**. He put it into the damage zone.

Emerald smirked. "Now I'll attack with my vanguard!" she turned it onto its side and it began to literally swing towards **Raien**.

"I don't guard," Jaune repeated.

"Then let's see what the drive trigger has to say," she turned over her top card and let out a smirk while Jaune grit his teeth. " **Poison Juggler** , a critical trigger. Obviously all of the effects go to my vanguard!" With that said, her Vanguard slammed into Jaune's.

 **8000+5000=13000**

"Damage trigger check," Jaune turned over the first card. "Draw trigger. The power goes to **Raien** and I draw one card," he put the card in his damage zone before he drew a card. "Second check," he turned it over to reveal a **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion** , which he put into the damage zone as well.

"That ends my turn," Emerald smirked.

Oobleck's voice carried throughout the crowd. "Incredible! In one turn, Miss Sustrai has dealt 3 damage to Mr Arc, putting her in the lead! Truly, the Pale Moon clan is one that should be feared!"

Peter nodded. "Indeed! Perhaps one of the more underestimated clans, it is by no means weak, which is being proven by Emerald in this battle!"

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Raien, Red River**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Emerald:**

 **Cerberus, Dancing Princess, None**

 **Skull Juggler, None, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 2**

"Come on Jaune...take her down..." Yang mumbled, wishing _she_ was the one down there facing Emerald, getting her retribution.

"Don't worry Yang," Ruby said enthusiastically. "Jaune will win! I just know it!" Blake nodded in agreement, but she was hiding her worry. Emerald was a _very_ good player, and they knew next to nothing about her Pale Moon deck.

Jaune took a breath. "I stand and draw," he stood his two units and drew a card. "I ride **Desert Gunner, Shiden**!" he slammed the card down as the cloaked gunner appeared on the battlefield. "With **Shiden** 's skill, **Cerberus** can't intercept this turn. Then **Red River** moves back, and I call **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda**!" he moved the red armoured warrior back as the orange demon appeared in front of it.

" **Garuda** attacks first!" Jaune declared as he turned the two cards on their side, the creature firing two blasts of yellow lightning.

 **9000+8000=17000**

Emerald didn't do anything, as such the attack hit her Vanguard and she turned over a card, slipping another **Dancing Princess** into the damage zone.

"And just like that, they are tied!" Port boomed. "But Jaune still has an attack left!"

"With a boost from **Saishin** , **Shiden** attacks your vanguard!" he turned the two cards on their sides as **Shiden** readied his gun.

 **9000+5000=14000**

Emerald quickly grabbed a card from her hand and put it on the Guardian circle. " **Poison Juggler** will put a stop to that!"

 **8000+10000=18000**

Jaune grumbled. "Drive check," he turned over a card and grinned. "A critical trigger! All of the effects will be going straight to **Shiden**!" he grinned widely as **Shiden** 's power grew, breaking through Emerald's guard and hitting her Vanguard.

 **14000+5000=19000 Critical=2**

The mint haired girl grit her teeth. "Damage trigger check..." she turned it over, this time revealing a Grade 3, **Midnight Invader**. It was no great loss to her apparently, since she put it in the damage zone without much of a care. She turned over the second, and grimaced just slightly as she put a **Poison Juggler** into her damage zone.

 **Midnight Invader**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"Tremendous!" Oobleck's voice carried. "Despite guarding, Mr Arc was able to get a trigger and break through Miss Sustrai's defence and take the lead away from her!"

"A great show of strength from Jaune!" Peter agreed. "But how will Miss Sustrai respond to that viscous attack?"

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Shiden, Garuda**

 **None, Saishin, Red River**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 3**

 **Emerald:**

 **Cerberus, Dancing Princess, None**

 **Skull Juggler, None, None**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Damage: 5**

"That's it Jaune!" Yang cheered. "Show that bitch who the boss is!"

"Yang!" Ruby said in shock at her sister swearing.

The busty blonde soon winced. "Sorry sis, but I'm just super excited!"

Blake nodded in agreement with Yang. "Yeah, I mean, we never saw Emerald lose a card fight at Nationals, maybe she'll finally have a loss and we can get some hope!"

"I stand and I draw," Emerald said, standing her units and drawing a card. "I must admit, you did better than I thought you would," she admitted. "But it ends here for you!" she grabbed a card and smirked. "When her thorny whip cracks, even dragons fall to their knees!" she raised the card up before slamming it down onto her Vanguard circle. "I ride **Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier**!" Answering her call, a black clad and glasses wearing unit appeared on Emerald's side of the field, cracking her whip with a sadistic grin.

 **Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"Superb!" Port's voice boomed. "A card from the new expansion set, and a powerful one at that! The new queen of the Pale Moon clan, **Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier** has entered the battle field! And a dangerous card at that!"

Emerald smirked. "I call a second **Skull Juggler**!" she placed it behind her vanguard. "And soul charge!" she put the top card of her deck into her soul, smirking as it was another **Barking Cerberus**. " **Luquier** 's limit break!" she declared, turning over three cards in her damage zone. **Luquier** smirked as she cracked her whip. "With her limit break, I can superior call up to one Grade 0, 1, 2, and 3 from the soul to rear-guard!" She slid two cards out from the soul and onto the rear-guard. "Come! **Barking Cerberus** , **Midnight Bunny**!" she put **Cerberus** in the front and **Bunny** behind. "And when I superior call a unit from the soul, **Luquier** 's power increases by 3000 for each!"

 **10000+3000+3000=16000**

"And just like that, with only two cards used from her hand, she fills up her entire rear-guard!" Port announced. "Truly, the Pale Moon is powerful! And Emerald is about to begin her all out attack!"

"With a boost from **Midnight Bunny** , **Cerberus** on the right attacks **Shiden**!" she turned the card and **Cerberus** howled as it charged towards Jaune's vanguard.

"I don't guard!" he declared, grunting as his vanguard got slammed into. "Checking for a damage trigger!" he turned it over, clicking his tongue at the sight of his **Dragonic Deathscythe**. He put it in the damage zone.

Emerald smirked. "With a boost from **Skull Juggler** , I'll have **Luquier** attack **Shiden**!" **Luquier** laughed as she jumped towards **Shiden** , ready to strike him with her whip.

 **16000+7000=23000**

Jaune grit his teeth. "Not so fast!" he grabbed _three_ cards from his hand and put them on the guardian circle. "I guard with two **Yellow Gem Carbuncle** and my **Old Dragon Mage**!"

 **9000+10000+10000+5000=34000**

Emerald grit her teeth here. "I check the twin drive!" she announced. "First check..." she turned it over, revealing another **Luquier**. "Second check..." she revealed **Rainbow Magician** , a draw trigger, and grit her teeth. "I give the power to my standing **Cerberus** , and I draw one card." she drew her card as **Luquier** 's attack was stopped, and grit her teeth again.

 **10000+5000=15000**

 **Rainbow Magician**

 **Grade: 0 (Draw Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

Jaune put his three cards into the drop zone, sighing in relief, but as he looked over his hand he knew he had gotten lucky. She now had five cards in he hand while he only held thee. Things weren't looking to be in his favour...

"With a boost from **Skull Juggler** ," Emerald spoke up, snapping him out of his thoughts. " **Cerberus** attacks your vanguard!"

Jaune grit his teeth as his unit was hit, and revealed **Thunder Break Dragon** , before putting it in his damage zone.

"You may have lived this turn," Emerald warned. "But next turn you won't be so lucky. I end my turn."

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Shiden, Garuda**

 **None, Saishin, Red River**

 **Hand: 3**

 **Damage: 5**

 **Emerald:**

 **Cerberus, Luquier, Cerberus**

 **Skull Juggler, Sull Juggler, Midnight Bunny**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 5**

"And at the end of that turn, the score is all tied up!" Oobleck exclaimed hastily. "But Jaune Arc looks to be in despair, and his field is still quite empty! Things are not looking up for him! Does he have what it takes to win the game this turn?!"

Peter nodded in agreement with Oobleck's words. "Indeed! We shall just have to wait and see what Jaune does now!"

Ignoring their debate, thoughts were running wild through Jaune's head. _Fuck, fuck, fuck! That was too close for comfort! If she'd gotten a critical trigger, I'd have just lost the game! Maybe I should just quit...I...who was I kidding? The regionals? I got lucky to make it this far...sorry Ozpin, but I don't have what it takes to win..._

He was about to quit, honestly he was, when he heard a voice yell out. "GO JAUNE! BEAT HER!"

His eyes widened at the familiar voice and he glanced up. "Ruby...?" he whispered.

Emerald had also looked up and grit her teeth. "Team Aegis...!"

"Yeah Jaune!" his eyes looked to Ruby's side and grew wider, seeing it was Yang who was now standing and cheering for her. "Kick her ass!"

"Don't let her beat you!" Blake's voice agreed, and he saw all three of them were standing up...cheering for _him_...soon enough, the entire crowd began to cheer, rooting for Jaune, wanting him to win.

"Everyone..." he whispered before he closed his eyes. And when they opened, they glowed with power, small blue spirals in each of his eyes, the tips traced with pink. "You don't have to tell me that!" He told them loudly. _This is my only chance!_ He thought to himself. _If I can't win the game this turn, then I don't deserve to win the tournament! I trust my deck! I trust that it will bring me through this! This is my..._ "FINAL TURN!" he declared.

 _That_ made everyone blink. "Jaune Arc declares Final Turn!" Peter's voice boomed. "He must have some extreme confidence that he can win! Will he be able to follow through with his declaration?!"

Emerald laughed at him. "Oh please, you won't win this turn, there's no chance that I'll let your attacks go through!"

Jaune ignored her, standing his units before he drew, and he grabbed a card. "Break out of the cage that binds you!" Jaune roared. "Spread your heavenly wings and descend onto the battlefield, incarnation of thunder!" He slammed it down. "Ride The Vanguard! **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**!"

In a flash of lightning, Jaune's ace card appeared on the battlefield before it let out a devastating roar, shaking the surface of Cray. "I call **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion** and **Red River Dragoon**!" he placed both cards onto the left column, **Vermillion** in the front, **Red River** behind him.

Taking a breath, Jaune looked over his field before they focused on **Vermillion**. "In order to reach new heights, we must surpass ourselves, and shatter the limits in front of us!" Jaune flipped over three cards in his damage zone as **Vermillion** 's eyes glowed and it let out a powerful roar. "Limit Break! **Vermillion** gets 2000 power! And his next attack will strike your entire front row!"

 **11000+2000=13000**

Emerald's eyes widened. "My whole front row?!"

"That's right!" Jaune nodded in confirmation. "With a boost from **Saishin** , **Vermillion** will attack!" **Vermillion** raised its sword as lightning struck it, and it swung towards Emerald's font row.

 **13000+5000=18000**

Emerald grit her teeth. "I guard with **Candy Clown** and **Rainbow Magician**!" she placed the two cards onto the field, and they appeared in front of **Luquier**.

 **Candy Clown**

 **Grade: 0 (Heal Trigger)**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

"Checking twin drive..." Jaune turned over the first card, revealing **Malevolent Djinn**. "Critical trigger! All effects will go to my rear-guard **Vermillion**!" a powerful roar was heard as its strength grew. "And the second check..." he flipped it over and Emerald gasped. It was another **Malevolent Djinn**. "Critical trigger! All effects go to my rear-guard **Vermillion**!" its roar grew louder.

 **11000+5000+5000=21000 Critical=3**

"Taste this!" Jaune yelled out. "Strike them, lightning of the apocalypse! Vermillion Thunderbolt!" Lightning arced from the sword and struck both **Cerberus** , though **Luquier** got protected by Emerald's unit, and they all fell into the drop zone.

"Guarding only defends one unit?!" Emerald yelled out.

"It isn't over yet!" Jaune roared. "With a boost from **Red River** , **Garuda** attacks!" he turned the two cards onto their sides, and **Garuda** fired its cannons.

Emerald, panicking, was quick to guard. "I guard with **Poison Juggler**!" she said, revealing a critical trigger that was in her hand. The cannon's slammed against her defender, and it fell into the drop zone.

"It ends now!" Jaune told her. "With a boost from **Red River** , my rear-guard **Vermillion** will finish this!" His ace card roared as it raised it's thunder coated blade, glaring evilly at **Luquier**.

 **21000+8000=29000 Critical=3**

Emerald looked down frantically at her hand. She held a **Luquier** and a **Mirror Demon**. Nowhere near enough to stop the attack. Swinging its blade, **Vermillion** struck it's target, slicing straight through **Luquier**. "Damage check..." she turned over her top card. **Hades Hypnotist**. She dropped it, putting her hands on the table as she looked down with wide eyes. "I...lost..."

The holographic field faded away as the Judge raised his arm. "The Winner: Jaune Arc!"

The crowd cheered loudly at the announcement, and Peter's voice boomed over it. "And there you have it! Our second finalist, going on to face Cardin Winchester, is the newcomer: Jaune Arc! What a turn of events, to have beaten a member of the team that won Nationals last year!"

"Quite!" Oobleck agreed. "We can expect many great things from Jaune Arc in the future, that is something we can be certain of!"

Jaune took deep breaths, before blinking as the glow faded from his eyes. "I did it!" he cheered out, throwing his arm into the air with a wide grin.

Emerald looked up and glared at him. "You...next time will be different!" she told him as she gathered up her cards and hurried away.

Jaune was too busy grinning to be mad, before he remembered something. He looked up, to see the cheering forms of Ruby, Yang, and Blake. It brought a smile to his lips to see his friends there, but a frown soon came to his features. They had some explaining to do...

* * *

Emerald walked down one of the hallways, clearly angry. "That little punk! Next time, I'll show him how it's done! I'll use my proper deck, and he'll be sorry that he ever messed with me!"

"A problem, Emerald?" a smooth and silky voice said from the darkness in front of her, making the mint haired girl pale.

"Y-yeah Cinder!" she nodded. "There's this new brat in the tournament, but he had skills! He was able to beat me! How could we have not of heard of him before now if he was that good?!"

'Cinder' hummed in thought. "How indeed...perhaps we should do a background check on this young man...what is his name?"

Emerald mumbled before she spoke up. "Jaune Arc...!"

Cinder drew in a breath of shock, and Emerald had a puzzling look, but her cool and calm voice spoke to Emerald. "Jaune Arc you say...? I will be sure to do a background check on this man..." golden eyes stared out of the darkness, directly past Emerald and at the man in question. " _Personally..._ "


	4. Chapter 4: Anger! Jaune VS Ruby!

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Cardfight Vanguard**

 **I will be responding to reviews every chapter, so let's go ahead and begin.**

 **Guest:**

 **I have this as both a crossover and not a crossover for one main reason. Because this is the first crossover of this kind on this site, I want it to be found easily so I set it as a non-crossover, but I also wanted it saved as a crossover as well for anyone who is looking for this specifically. Getting good views on a crossover fic that hasn't been done before isn't easy, after all.**

 **DestinyVain:**

 **There won't really be a 'Kai' of this fic. But rest assured, I know what I'm going to do when the time comes to Link-Joker's arrival, and which person will be filling the role of 'Kai' or the friend who gives into the Reverse, and I've got an idea for the Legion-Mate part of the series as well.**

 **Guest:**

 **As fun as that sounds, that will not be happening. If I were to have Jaune changing decks to Royal Paladin, the name 'The Vanguard of Thunder' kind of becomes redundant since he isn't ONLY the vanguard of thunder then.**

 **TheSib:**

 **Do not worry, Neo WILL be in this fic, definitely. Sadly, she won't be declaring her moves by holding up signs, but I already have a way for her to play without her speaking, so rest assured, that has been covered.**

 **Without further ado, let's begin! Stand Up! Vanguard!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Anger! Jaune VS Ruby!**

Jaune wasn't mad. No, no, no.

He was pissed beyond comprehension. The levels of rage and anger he was feeling right now could not be explained. You would have to be in his situation, with his feelings, to understand the level of anger he felt right then and there as he sat in a quiet room, glaring at his three friends who were all looking down.

"Well?" he asked, sounding calm enough, but they could all hear the underlying rage in his voice. "Care to explain as to why you three are here? Since I'm pretty sure you three said you were _busy_ all week," he didn't even try to hide the venom he used in the word _busy_.

"Jaune..." Blake spoke up softly. "We can explai-"

"Still waiting," Jaune told them, his eyes showing pure anger.

Yang looked up, flinching at the rage in Jaune's eyes. "The truth is Jaune...when we said we were 'busy' we were actually heading to card capital...the three of us are Cardfighters, and are a Team that got 5th in nationals last year. Team Aegis..."

Jaune nodded, his eyes still mad. "And WHY didn't you tell me?"

"Because we were embarrassed," Blake admits to him. "We didn't want you to think of us as...well..."

"Losers?" Jaune asked, the irritation and disbelief evident.

Ruby looked up, flinching at his gaze. "Well...yeah..."

He face palmed. "Did you honestly forget who you are talking to? Your talking to perhaps the biggest loser in our school! I wouldn't have given a damn as to whether or not you were card fighters!"

 _That_ made them all stop short as they thought about his words, before realization dawned on their faces. They had never thought Jaune was a loser at all, they'd thought he was actually a pretty cool guy. But because of that, they'd forgotten that, in the eyes of their fellow students, Jaune was just a loser.

"We...didn't think about that..." Blake mumbled.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't you idiots!" he growled, before turning. "I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Ruby called out to him, before grabbing his arm. "Don't go!"

"Let go of me Ruby," he told her, his voice softening slightly.

"N-no!" she said firmly. "I won't let you go! I...if you won't forgive us, I'll make you forgive us with a cardfight!"

That got Jaune's attention as he looked at her. "You want to make me forgive you...with a cardfight?"

She nodded, "Yeah! If I win, then you have to accept our apology and forgive us for not telling you!"

He hummed in thought. They _did_ have the time, as the final match was going to be done in about 20 minutes, since an idol card fighting group that he didn't pay attention to the name of was performing a few songs. "Alright," he agreed. "But if I win, I do what I want."

"Deal!" Ruby said immediately. Yang and Blake glanced to each other in worry.

"You sure about this Rubes?" Yang said with worry. "I mean, you haven't really had a lot of time to play with that deck yet..."

Ruby nodded firmly. "This may be our only chance! I'll win!"

Jaune walked over to a cardfight table and set his starting card down, shuffling his deck. Ruby walked over, doing the same, as Blake and Yang stood behind her with wary expressions on their faces.

The two drew their five cards, before both put 2 cards back into the deck, shuffling again before redrawing. "Ladies first?" Ruby asked.

Jaune shrugged. "Fine," he told her, before they both grabbed their vanguard.

"Stand up!" They said together. "Vanguard!" they flipped them over.

" **Crimson Lion Cub, Kryph**!" Ruby declared, revealing her red and golden armoured warrior.

 **Crimson Lion Cub, Kryph**

 **Grade: 0**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 10000**

" **Lizard Soldier, Saishin**!" Jaune shot back as he revealed his white armoured lizard. Jaune blinked a little. "You use a Gold Paladin deck? That's the first deck I ever faced off against."

Ruby blinked at that. "Then I'll show you just how good I am with it!" she declared as she drew. She looked over her hand before she made her choice. "I ride **Knight of Elegent Skills, Gareth**!" she slammed it down onto her vanguard, revealing the young teen in golden armour. " **Kryph** moves to the rear-guard, and I end my turn," she told him as **Kryph** appeared behind her vanguard.

Jaune drew a card as he looked over his hand. "I'll ride **Desert Gunner, Raien** ," he placed the card onto the vanguard circle. "Then **Saishin** moves back. And then with a boost from **Saishin** , **Raien** will attack **Gareth**!" he turned the cards onto their sides as **Raien** shot bullets at **Gareth**.

"I won't guard," Ruby told him.

"Drive check..." Jaune turned over his top card to reveal a **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda**.

Ruby winced as her vanguard was hit. "Check for a damage trigger..." she turned over the top card and frowned at the sight of her **Great Silver Wolf, Garmore**. She put it into the damage zone.

"My turn is over," he told Ruby.

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Raien, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 0**

 **Ruby:**

 **None, Gareth, None**

 **None, Kryph, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 1**

"I draw!" the red head said, drawing a card. "I ride **Knight of Superior Skills, Beaumains**!" She placed the card down as the new warrior appeared on the field. "Then I'll call **Knight of Elegant Skills, Gareth** to rear-guard!" she placed it just to **Kryph** 's right. "And now I'll use **Kryph** 's skill!" she turned over the single card in her damage zone. "When **Beaumains** is my vanguard, I move both **Gareth** and **Kryph** into the soul," she explained as she moved the two cards to the soul, before picking up her deck and searching through before grabbing a card and shuffling her deck again, putting it down.

"Blonde lion warrior please heed my call..." she chanted lightly as she raised the card. "Show this world your divine power! Superior ride!" she slammed the card down onto **Beaumains**. " **Incandescent Lion, Blonde Ezel**!" slowly, the long blonde haired warrior appeared on the battlefield, holding his twin swords.

 **Incandescent Lion, Blonde Ezel**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

"Superior Ride...?" Jaune said, his eyes wide in shock. "You made it to Grade 3 on only your second turn...?"

"Then I call **Little Battler, Tron**!" she told him as she put the card behind her vanguard. "And **Mage of Calamity, Tripp**!" she placed it to **Ezel** 's right.

 **Little Battler, Tron**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 6000**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **Mage of Calamity, Tripp**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

"Here goes!" Ruby said. " **Ezel** gets +1000 power for each Gold Paladin rear-guard I have during my turn!"

 **10000+2000=12000**

" **Tripp** attacks your vanguard!" she turned the card on it's side.

"I won't guard that," Jaune told her as **Tripp** 's attack hit, and he turned over a card. " **Malevolent Djinn**. A critical trigger. The power and critical will go to **Raien**!" he told her as he put the card in his damage zone.

 **Malevolent Djinn**

 **Grade: 0 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Power: 4000**

 **Shield: 10000**

 **7000+5000=12000**

Ruby frowned a little. "With **Tripp** 's skill, I flip over one card in my damage zone," she turned the face-down card face-up. "And then with a boost from **Tron** , **Ezel** attacks! And with **Tron** 's skill, since I have more rear-guards, **Ezel** get's an extra 4000 power!"

 **12000+6000+4000=22000**

Jaune grunted as he looked over his hand, frowning. "I won't guard that."

"Checking twin drive..." Ruby said as she turned over her cards, revealing a **Great Silver Wolf, Garmore** and **Halo Shield, Mark**.

"Damage check," Jaune turned over a card, clicking his tongue at the sight of his **Thunder Break Dragon**. He put it into the damage zone.

Ruby looked over the field before nodding. "That ends my turn."

 **Jaune:**

 **None, Raien, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 2**

 **Ruby:**

 **None, Ezel, Tripp**

 **None, Tron, None**

 **Hand: 4**

 **Damage: 1**

Jaune stood his units and drew. "Stand and draw...I'll ride **Thunderstorm Dragoon** ," he placed the card down as the crimson armoured warrior on his dragon appeared on the battle field. "Then I call **Garuda** ," he placed the card to his vanguard's left. " **Garuda** attacks **Tripp** ," he turned the card on it's side.

Ruby quickly grabbed a card. " **Weapons Dealer, Gwydion** will guard!" she placed the draw trigger onto the field, protecting her unit.

 **9000+5000=14000**

"Then with a boost from **Saishin** , **Thunderstorm** will attack **Ezel**!" he turned the cards onto their sides as **Thunderstorm** charged in at **Ezel**.

"I won't guard that one!" she told him.

"I check for a drive trigger then..." Jaune told her, turning over his top card, and making Blake, Yang and Ruby pale slightly at the sight of his **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**.

 **Thunderstorm** slammed against **Ezel** with his lance, making Ruby wince a little. "Damage trigger check..." she turned it over, revealing her **Silver Fang Witch** , which she placed into the drop zone.

 **Silver Fang Witch**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 5000**

 **Shield: 5000**

Jaune looked over the field before nodding. "I'll end my turn there."

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunderstorm, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 6**

 **Damage: 2**

 **Ruby:**

 **None, Ezel, Tripp**

 **None, Tron, None**

 **Hand: 3**

 **Damage: 2**

Ruby gulped slightly as she looked over the field. Things looked even, but Jaune had the advantage since his hand was twice the size of hers. "I stand and draw," she told him as she stood her units and drew from her deck. "I call **Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane** , and **Silver Fang Witch**!" she declared as she put the two cards onto the left side of her field, **Viviane** in the front, **Fang** **Witch** in the back.

 **Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane**

 **Grade: 2**

 **Power: 9000**

 **Shield: 5000**

" **Witch** 's soul blast!" Ruby told him, before taking **Kryph** and **Gareth** out of the soul and putting them in the drop zone. "I draw," she drew from her deck. " **Ezel** 's power increases for each of his comrades!" she declared as **Ezel** roared.

 **10000+4000=14000**

"With a boost from **Silver Fang Witch** , **Viviane** will attack first!" she told him as she turned the two cards onto their sides.

 **9000+5000=14000**

"I'll guard with **Photon Bomber Wyvern**!" he told her as he placed the card into the guardian circle. He didn't want to waste this card, but he was willing to make sacrifices.

 **10000+5000=15000**

Ruby clicked her tongue as **Wyvern** was put into the drop zone. "Not yet! With a boost from **Tron** , **Ezel** attacks! And with **Tron** 's skill, another 4000 power!" she declared as **Ezel** charged in.

 **14000+6000+4000=24000**

"No guard!" Jaune told her, knowing even if she got two critical triggers he'd be okay.

"Checking twin drive!" she told him. "First check!" she turned over the top card. " **Flame of Victory**! A critical trigger! The power goes to **Tripp** , but the critical stays with **Ezel**! Second check!" she turned over the second card, revealing her **Gareth**.

 **Flame of Victory**

 **Grade: 0 (Critical Trigger)**

 **Power: 4000**

 **Shield: 10000**

 **9000+5000=14000**

Jaune grit his teeth as the attack hit. "Damage check..." he turned over the first card and sighed in relief. "Draw trigger. I give the power to **Garuda** , and draw one card," he placed his trigger into the damage zone before drawing a card. "Second check..." he turned it over, revealing a **Thunder Break** **Dragon** , which he put into the damage zone as well.

 **9000+5000=14000**

" **Tripp** attacks **Garuda**!" she told him.

" **Desert Gunner, Shiden** will guard!" he told her as the Grade 2 gunner appeared, defending Garuda before being sent to the drop zone.

 **14000+5000=19000**

"I guess my turn ends there..." Ruby told him.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Thunderstorm, None**

 **None, Saishin, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 4**

 **Ruby:**

 **Viviane, Ezel, Tripp**

 **Fang Witch, Tron, None**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 2**

"Ruby got so close..." Yang mumbled. "If only she could have gotten a hit on his vanguard with those other two attacks..."

"It gets worse Yang..." Blake mumbled. "Look at his field..."

Yang did so, and soon noticed the problem and paled heavily. "Oh no...he's got 4 damage..."

Jaune stood his units. "I stand and draw..." he drew his card and put it in his hand before grabbing another and raising it up. "Break out of the cage that binds you! Spread your heavenly wings and descend into the battlefield, incarnation of thunder!" he slammed it down. "Ride The Vanguard! **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**!"

On the planet cray, **Vermillion** let out a powerful roar as it appeared on the battle field, it's eyes gleaming dangerously. "I call **Thunderstorm** and **Red** **River Dragoon**!" he told them, placing the cards on the right side of his field.

"And now...break through the limits!" he flipped over three cards in his damage zone. " **Vermillion** 's limit break! His power goes up by 2000, and his attack will hit everything in your entire front row!" Ruby paled heavily.

 **11000+2000=13000**

"With a boost from **Saishin**..." he turned the card on its side. " **Vermillion** attacks! Go now, Vermillion Thunderbolt!" the dragon swung its sword.

 **13000+5000=18000**

"Not so fast!" Ruby said. "I guard with **Halo Shield, Mark**! Then I discard **Garmore** from my hand to nullify your attack!"

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Let's check the twin drive..." he turned over the top card. "A critical trigger!" he declared with a grin. "I give all effects to **Garuda**! Second check..." he turned over his second card, this time revealing a **Raien**. "Destroy them, **Vermillion**!" **Tripp** and **Viviane** screamed as they were sent to the drop zone.

 **9000+5000=14000**

Blake's eyes widened. "Even a perfect guard can only defend a single unit?!"

"It's not over yet! **Garuda** attacks next!" he turned the card sideways.

Ruby looked at her hand, weighing her options for a minute. "I won't guard!" she told him, wincing as the attack hit. "Damage triggers...first..." she flipped over a card. " **Elixer Sommelier**! A heal trigger! I give **Ezel** 5000 power!" she told him, putting the card into her damage zone. "Second check..." she turned over the card and winced at the sight of her **Halo Shield, Mark**.

 **10000+5000=15000**

" **Garuda** 's skill, I unflip one point of damage," he told her as he unflipped his **Thunder Break Dragon**. "Then with a boost from **Red River** , **Thunderstorm** attacks **Ezel**!"

"I'll guard that attack with **Gareth**!" she told him as she placed the card down, successfully defending the attack before putting the card in the drop zone.

 **10000+8000=18000**

"My turn is done," Jaune told her, crossing his arms.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Vermillion, Thunderstorm**

 **None, Saishin, Red River**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 4**

 **Ruby:**

 **None, Ezel, None**

 **Fang Witch, Tron, None**

 **Hand: 2**

 **Damage: 4**

"Stand and draw..." Ruby said, doing her actions as she spoke. "I want you to forgive us Jaune...you are our best friend, and I won't let you throw it all away!"

"Hm...?" Jaune looked at her.

"On the road to atonement..." Ruby mumbled. "The walls that stop us have to be torn down! **Ezel** 's limit break!" she declared, flipping over two cards in her damage zone and flipping over the top card of her deck. "I superior call **Beaumains**!" she placed the card in front of **Fang Witch**. "Then **Ezel** 's power increases by **Beaumain** 's power!"

 **10000+10000=20000**

"What?!" Jaune's eyes widened as the sheer amount of power, before any triggers or boosts.

"Again!" Ruby told him. " **Ezel** 's limit break!" she flipped over two more cards and turned over the top one. "Superior call **Great Silver Wolf, Garmore**!" she placed it on the other side of her vangaurd. "And once again, **Ezel** 's power increases by **Garmore** 's power!"

 **20000+10000=30000**

"Thirty thousand power?!" Jaune stared in disbelief.

Ruby nodded. "I call **Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**!" she told him as she put the card down behind **Garmore**. " **Ezel** 's power increases for each Gold Paladin I have on rear-guard!" **Ezel** roared as aura flowed from his comrades into him.

 **Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**

 **Grade: 1**

 **Power: 7000  
**

 **Shield: 5000**

 **30000+5000=35000**

"With a boost from **Nimue** , **Garmore** attacks your vanguard!" she told him as **Garmore** charged in.

 **10000+7000=17000**

"I won't guard!" Jaune told her, grunting as the attack hit. He flipped over the top card of his deck, gritting his teeth at the sight of his **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**. He put it into the drop zone.

"With a boost from **Tron** , **Ezel** attacks!" Ruby told him, turning them sideways. "And with **Tron** 's skill, an extra 4000 power!"

 **35000+6000+4000=45000**

Jaune gulped. "I'll nullify that attack with **Wyvern Guard, Guld**!" he told her as he put the sentinel card onto the field, dropping his **Raien** from his hand.

Ruby frowned. "Twin drive!" he flipped over the first card, biting her lip at the sight of her **White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore**. She flipped over the second card, only to reveal another **Tripp**. "Not done yet! **Beaumains** attacks with a boost from **Silver Fang Witch**!" she turned the cards onto their sides.

 **White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore**

 **Grade: 3**

 **Power: 10000**

 **10000+5000=15000**

" **Malevolent Djinn** will guard!" Jaune told her, slamming the critical onto the guardian circle.

 **11000+10000=21000**

Ruby looked down. "I end my turn..." she mumbled.

 **Jaune:**

 **Garuda, Vermillion, Thunderstorm**

 **None, Saishin, Red River**

 **Hand: 2**

 **Damage: 5**

 **Ruby:**

 **Beaumains, Ezel, Garmore**

 **Fang Witch, Tron, Nimue**

 **Hand: 5**

 **Damage: 4**

Jaune closed his eyes for a second before he opened them and looked into Ruby's silver ones. _This was a good game Ruby..._ he thought. _It's been really close...but now...it's the..._ "Final turn!" Jaune declared, making the three girls look at him in surprise. "I stand and draw..." he told them as he proceeded to do so. "Then I call **Red River Dragoon** to my final rear-guard circle!" he placed the card down, completing his formation.

"And then..." he glanced at his damage zone. " **Vermillion** 's limit break!" he declared, the dragon roaring loudly as he flipped over the three face-up cards in his damage zone. "He gets 2000 power! And his attack will be hitting your front row!"

 **11000+2000=13000**

"With a boost from **Saishin**..." he turned it on its side before doing the same with his vanguard. " **Vermillion** will swing at your front row!"

 **13000+5000=18000**

Ruby gulped. "I'll guard that attack with **Flame of Victory** and **Tripp**!" Ruby told him, placing the cards onto the field. _I can still win this! So long as he doesn't pull any triggers..._

 **10000+10000+5000=25000**

"Twin drive..." Jaune turned over the first card, revealing a **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**. He then turned over his second card, and the girls paled at the sight of it.

 **Yellow Gem Carbuncle**

"Critical Trigger..." Jaune said with a small smirk. "The power and critical...to **Thunderstorm Dragoon**." The warrior grew stronger as the Thunderbolt struck the field, causing Ruby's two rear-guard units in the front row to be destroyed.

 **10000+5000=15000**

Jaune then turned two more cards onto their sides, "With a boost from **Red River** , **Thunderstorm** will end this!" the Dragon riding human charged in at **Ezel**.

 **15000+8000=23000**

Ruby looked down at her hand. **White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore**. **Player of the Holy Axe, Nimue**. **Player of the Holy Bow, Viviane**. It wasn't enough to stop this attack. "No guard..." she mumbled, subjecting herself to fate as the attack hit.

"Checking for damage triggers..." she flipped over the first one, biting her lips at the sight of a heal trigger, but she didn't yet have enough damage to heal. "Power to **Ezel**..." she mumbled. "Second check..." she slowly turned it over, everybody staring in anticipation as she flipped over the card.

 **White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore**.

Ruby dropped the card, tears starting to fall as Blake and Yang hugged her, all the creatures on the battlefield retreating from Cray. "I lost..." she whispered softly, feeling crushed that they'd just lost their friend.

"Yeah...you lost," Jaune said. They looked up, expecting to see him angry, but were surprised to see him just smiling. "But you had me on the ropes there. If I hadn't gotten that trigger, you'd have definitely won that match. You could have easily won the next turn."

"Thanks..." Ruby said, a little confused but still hurt. "But...I lost...which means you won't forgive us..."

"I never said I wouldn't forgive you," he told them, making them look at him in shock. "I said 'if I win, I do what I want'. I was mad because you never told me, not because you were cardfighters. I got all my anger out during that battle with Ruby...well, I'm saving a little of it for Cardin." He admitted that last part before smiling and walking over to them. "Besides, if I weren't your friend then who else is gonna be the one guy you won't have ogling you all the time?"

They stared at him before laughing and each giving him a tight hug in turn. "Thanks for forgiving us, Vomit Boy!" Yang said cheekily, making Jaune groan.

"It was one time!" he told her.

"It was enough," she countered, making him sigh through his nose, and he looked at the time. "You'd all better head up to the stands again..."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "And what are you going to do?"

"Me?" He asked her. He smiled and turned. "I have one last bully to confront..."


End file.
